The Romance of Jadason: The Sequel
by Chocolatelover2001
Summary: The sequel to The Romance of Jadason! Jade and Jason leave to work with SHIELD. What new problems will they face? Sorry I suck at summaries! Read The Romance of Jadason first! :)
1. New Mission

**Hey guys! Here's the sequel to The Romance of Jadason. I have another story going on so I won't be able to post as often, but each will be at least once a week if not more often. Just so you know. The other chapters are oneshots that take me maybe an hour or two to do, and these one's take a good 4-5 hours sitting down straight or 2-3 days. I write whenever I have free time, and winter break just started so I'll have loads of time then. Without further ado, The Romance of Jadason: The Sequel! :) (This takes place about a year and two months after the end of The Romance of Jadason)**

(JASON POV)

I'm sitting in Eddie's office with Red, because apparently he has a proposition for us. I have an idea about what it could be, but Red was about to confirm before he walked into the office.

"Okay. We need a four person team that will handle the most difficult stuff, the life endangering stuff. We have two chosen out already, and they've already agreed to take part." he said, cutting straight to the chase, and pulling up two identification screens.

"Ria Alonso, age 19, and Marlin Checlin, age 21. Ria is a bio-med from the Science academy, and Marlin is an engineer and hacker, from both Communications and Science." he said. I nodded and raised my eyebrows at him.

"So you want us for the other two people." I said. He nodded.

"I don't know Eddie. Last time I went on a SHIELD mission it didn't end well." Jade said, looking at him warily.

"These are nothing, completely unrelated series of missions, you'll live on a plane much like my dad's bus. You'll make occasional trips back here. It'll be easy stuff, and you'll have plenty of space." he said, pulling up a diagram of the new plane.

We looked at it and something caught my eye. "Why is that bunk bigger than the rest?" I asked.

"Well, it's for you two. I figured that you guys would end up together at some point, and it's probably more comfortable with more space." he said, looking highly uncomfortable.

"How considerate. Already planning for us to be there." Red said dryly, giving him a pointed look.

"Well, I think I know you two well enough by now to know what you'll say. I mean, you are my brother-in-law Jason." he said.

I cringed. My sister is married, to Eddie. I like to push that out of my mind.

"Excuse us for a second." Jade said, pulling me out of the room. She looked at me. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean, it's a risk, but maybe it's time for us to go out, get on with our lives. But at the same time . . . it's dangerous." I said.

"I know. But maybe- maybe we should." she said hesitantly, unsurely. I looked at her.

"We could. I mean, honestly, we could quit at any time if we had to, and Eddie knows better than to try and stop us. And if he doesn't, well, Nat can fix that." I said.

"I think we should do it." she said, more surely this time. I know her better than that though, but I'm not going to push it.

"Let's do it." I said, smiling. We walked back in the room and Eddie looked at us expectantly.

"We're in." Jade said calmly, her face showing none of the uncertainty it did a minute ago. He looked at us and smiled, nodding.

Suddenly RIley crawled in with my sister hot on her trail. She totally skipped me and Eddie and went straight to Jade, who she absolutely loves. Red picked her up and started talking to her in baby language, with I thought was absolutely adorable. Riley started giggling as Jade tickled her.

"Auntie Jay!" my niece said in her garbled baby speech. Jade was practically beaming. I think Riley likes Jade more than Eddie, which is hilarious in my opinion.

"Ehem. Riley honey, come back to mommy, we have to go." Nat said, giving Jade a pointed look.

Jade was pouting and Riley had crossed her arms and was shaking her head rapidly. "No no no." she said. Nat sighed and pulled Riley away, despite her daughter's protests. They left the room and we looked back at Eddie, who smiled tiredly.

"Anyway, you guys leave this afternoon. Pack your things, say your goodbyes, and bring them here, where we'll load them on the plane." he said. He looked exhausted.

We nodded and left, heading home to grab our stuff.

(LATER)

We boarded the plane, which had been named 'the bus 2.0', and put our stuff away, walking out.

"Woah! You two are the senior agents that are going to lead us? You're like 18. And why are you sharing a room?" we were bombarded with questions by a young man with sandy blond hair and green eyes.

"Are you Agent Checlin?" I asked him, not bothering to answer his questions.

"Yes, are you Agent Smith? Or I suppose it would be Agent J. Smith. Because your dad is also Agent Smith, but wait! His first name is James! Okay okay, so Agent J.T. Smith. There we go. And you must be Agent Rogers. Is it true that you're a telepath?" he asked.

Jade rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Listen up. Yes, we are the senior agents. Yes, we're 18. We share a room for reasons you don't need to know. He's just Agent Smith, and I'm Agent Rogers, and yes, I'm a telepath, and no, you cannot know why we share a room. And yes, that's absolutely final." she said. He held his hands up.

"Okay okay. Jeez. Don't go all crazy lady on me." he muttered. She glared at him intensely.

"I'm not a joke, Agent. Don't underestimate me or you'll regret it." she said nonchalantly. He paled slightly and walked away.

"Oh hi! You guys must be Agent Smith and Agent Rogers! Don't mind him. He's just a bit excited. I mean, your parents are kind of legends around here." an indian girl with long straight black hair and brown eyes said.

"Yeah, he seems alright I suppose. I'm just a little wary around new people in general." Jade said, smiling.

"Okay, well, we're lifting off soon. You guys have first dinner duty." she said, turning and walking away.

Jade dragged me into the room, shut the door, and then looked at me with her arms crossed. "Okay. What's wrong? You've barely talked, and you're usually the friendly one, not me." she said.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. Just a little nervous is all." I said. She looked at me softly.

"I am too, but we'll be fine. I promise you. What's the worst that could happen? I mean, we could die, but . . ."

"Not helping Red." I said dryly. She laughed.

"Okay okay, so a lot of bad things could happen-"

"Still not helping." I cut off.

"Let me finish! As I was trying to say, a lot of bad things could happen, but we always make it out alive. Albeit not unhurt, but you know, still alive." she said.

"Yeah. Right." I said quietly. I'm just really anxious about how this will turn out. I know that most likely we'll be fine, but I'm starting to wonder why I ever agreed to this in the first place.

"Hey. It'll be okay Jase. I promise. If things get to be too much, we can always leave. And I'll be right here." She said, leaning up and kissing me lightly.

I nodded grimly. "Somehow I have the feeling that we won't quit unless we are kicked out." I muttered. She laughed.

"That's usually how it goes." she said, smiling slightly. "We'll be okay. We always are." she said. I sighed and we left the room.

"Okay. So cooking." she muttered, staring at the contents of the fridge. I laughed. Red can't cook for the life of her.

"How hard can it be?" I asked rhetorically. I can't cook either, for your information. "Hey look! Cereal!" I said, grinning as I saw our favorite cereals stocked up, at least 10 boxes for each of us.

"Yeah, but we can't just serve them cereal." she said, giving me a look.

I shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because! These people probably want actual food."

"Cereal is actual food." I muttered under my breath.

She glared at me. "Stop pouting and hand me the cheddar." she said. I handed it to her and she asked for the bread, butter, and mozzerella.

"Grilled cheese?" I asked.

She nodded. "Grilled Cheese. I don't know how they'll like it, or if I can make this without screwing it up, but it's worth a shot." she said.

I nodded and moved over to help her. We buttered the bread, and started grilling them on the stove. After the first one was done, I looked at it and furrowed my eyebrows. That doesn't look like how Aunt Simmons makes it.

Suddenly Marlin walked in. "Is something burning?" he asked. I laughed at the irony. If something was on fire, I could put it out just like that, but of course he doesn't know that.

"Nah, it's just the grilled cheese." I said. He came over and looked at it, then at us.

"Guys, that's not grilled cheese. That's a miserable, pathetic _attempt_ at grilled cheese. When Director Coulson warned us you couldn't cook, I thought he was trying to break the ice. You know what? Maybe I'll do dinner tonight." he said. We grinned.

"Thanks Agent Checlin." I said. He smiled.

"It's Marlin. Agent Checlin sounds old." he said. I smiled, turns out he isn't so bad after all. Ria came in, took one look at the situation, and decided to turn back into the room she came from.

(LATER)

We were sitting in the living room, surprisingly spacious for a plane, and kissing. I know, we do this too much. But I really don't care. She was sitting half on top of me and had her arms around my neck. I had one hand on her waist and the other tangled in her hair.

Suddenly we heard a cough behind us. "Guys! Dinner!" Ria said, quickly walking away, muttering something about teenagers and their raging hormones.

We laughed and got up, walking back into the kitchen where we smelled something delicious. It smelled like the pasta that Uncle Steve always made for us when we were little. Penne noodles with alfredo sauce and sliced chicken. Looking at it, it looked a lot like it as well, just slightly less amazing.

"Um Marlin? I think we're going to need more than that." Red said, looking at the amount that could barely feed one of us.

"What are you talking about? There's plenty!" he said. We looked at each other.

"Yeah, well, um, we're both super soldiers, and we need to eat more than the average human. So you know . . . for future reference. We'll eat cereal." I said. Red slapped my arm lightly.

"Stop it with the cereal." she said, unable to hold back a slight grin. They looked at us oddly before shrugging and sitting down.

"So. Ed- Director Coulson has given us our first mission. We have to investigate the murder of Agent Aria Rogers." I said, reading off from my phone.

Jade snatched the phone from me and read through it, then stormed out of the room. I followed her and heard her talking to her dad.

"Hey dad. Do you happen to be related to anyone named Aria Rogers? She happens to look a lot like you, has the same last name, and works with SHIELD. A lot of coincidences, no?" she said. Her dad replied and then she started glaring ahead.

"Okay. Okay, I understand. I know. I'm not mad at you dad. Don't worry. Okay. Love you too." she said before hanging up and looking at me.

"So?" I asked. She tilted her head slightly to the security feeds from above and I nodded. Not here, not now.

She handed me the phone and we walked back in the room. "Never mind. Sorry for that. I just had to double check something." she said calmly.

"Okay . . ." Marlin said warily. It's clear that they don't really trust us at the moment. A lot of things we don't tell them, we can't tell them. But we know how to keep something a secret. Our nightmares, that might not be as easy.

"So? The mission?" Marlin asked. I nodded.

"Right. So we have to go investigate it, figure out what happened, get the murderer, and the usual murder investigation. He said that the death might have been caused by Alien sources, which is why we're going in." I explained. Everyone nodded and got up to put their dishes away.

(LATER, RIA POV)

Somethings off about those two. I know they aren't telling us something. I just don't know what. Agent Smith seems overly cautious about this whole thing, and extremely close to Agent Rogers. Agent Rogers has this terrifying vibe to her. She's good at masking her emotions. When she stormed out of the room there was this anger in her eyes, a fire raging there, that I never want directed at me. Those two are hiding a lot of things right now. I just need to figure it out. And fast. I know the director said I can trust them but I'm not so sure.

I guess it's time to spy on them. "Hey Marlin? Are Agent Smith and Agent Rogers asleep?" I asked him. I've been on various missions with him already.

"I guess so, why? I don't think it's a good idea to spy on them Ria. I really don't." he said, seeing the look on my face.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Well, let's see, two senior agents that happen to be 18, sleep together, extremely good at masking all emotions, supersoldiers, and god knows what else we don't know. Not to mention who their parents are." he listed off.

I rolled my eyes. "Scaredy cat. They won't even find out." I said. He crossed his arms.

"Fine. But it's on your head if they do." he said, turning around and pulling up the security feed. He frowned and started typing.

"It's disconnected." We heard Agent Rogers say from behind us. She held the miniscule camera in her hand, scorched, dangling from her pointer finger. She let it slip and crash onto the ground.

"You might be good, but we're better." she hissed before walking away. I looked at Marlin in shock.

"How did she burn it? How did she even know?" I asked. He shook his head and sighed, leaning back in the chair.

"It's pretty late. I'm going to head to bed." he said. I nodded and he left. I thought for a minute. Time to do things my own way. I walked briskly down to the lab and when I got there, Agent Smith was leaning against the back of a lab table.

"Hi. I know you don't trust us, but you don't have to worry. We're perfectly trustworthy, we just have a- complicated past. Jade especially. Anyway, you can call me Jason, and you can call her Jade. Don't bother with all the agent stuff. Makes us sound like our parents." he said, cutting straight to the chase.

"How did you know I was coming down here?" I asked, still on guard.

"I have my ways. Good night Ria." he said, walking past me down the hallway. I looked at his retreating figure and my eye twitched, I don't like this.

 _Jason_ said I can trust him, but I don't know.

(LATER MARLIN POV)

I heard a shrill scream from down the hall and I bolted upright. I threw on a shirt and walked down the hall to see Ria already up, and walking towards Jason and Jade's room.

I knocked on the door and when I didn't get an answer I knocked again, harder. "Agents? Hello? I'm coming in!" I said, hacking the electronic lock to the door.

What we saw inside completely shattered any inhibitions we had about them. Jade was wearing a short sleeve shirt, showing her insanely scarred arms, with shorts that showed her equally marred legs. Jason was shirtless, showing his insanely scarred torso in general. He was holding her tightly and there was a look of sheer fear and anger in her eyes that made me want to seek cover. Her cheeks were stained with tears that just kept pouring out and she was taking in shaky uneven breaths. The look in Jason's eyes was angry and venomous, and there was darkness in them that looked murderous. He looked nothing like the carefree teenager we saw earlier, he looked dangerous and deadly. His dark brown eyes were almost black and it seemed like he was radiating anger and sadness and emotions seemed to overwhelm me.

"Leave. Now." he said, low and threatening. Honestly he's terrifying like this.

We briskly walked away, taking a deep breath when we were out of the vicinity. "Ria? Next time, let's not be concerned teammates." I said.

SHe looked at me. "Sounds good. I also think that they still aren't telling us something. And how'd if they get those scars?" She wondered aloud.

"I don't know. I'd guess torture by the looks of them, but we can't really be sure." I said uncomfortably.

"What are they still hiding from us?" She asked aloud, thinking.

"I've got it! I can hack their files!" I said, running over to the computer.

"Brilliant! Go for it!" She said. We looked and gasped at what we saw.

(JADE POV)

I shuddered lightly and cuddled closer to Jason. I can't believe they saw that. The less people that know the better. I tried to hide it but how long did that last? They're going to see that freaking IMP that Uncle Phil had put out for me last year.

Oh my god. I didn't really realize how broken down we were until now. The fact that we couldn't hide it for more than a few hours is terrifying. I'm surprised the people at school didn't figure it out.

I moved even closer to Jase and he looked at me. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Not really. They shouldn't have seen that." I whispered.

"I know, but they would've found out eventually. And I don't think they'll be trying to push anymore." he said.

"Right. Except now they're going through our files. And I- oh god I don't want them to see any of that."

"Hey, it's okay. They're trustworthy. It's okay." He said softly.

"Oh. So the phone call. I should probably tell you before we go on the investigation."

"Okay." he replied.

"So Aria is my half sister. Apparently while our moms were pregnant with us and a little before that, she lived with them. She was a hydra experiment. She was born the year my dad got out of the ice. So she would be 28 right now. She was born from my dad's DNA. So she looks exactly like my dad, pretty much like an older version of Ana. Aria is apparently a very skilled agent. The mission our dads went on right before we were born? Rescue mission for her." I explained quietly.

He nodded. "So Aria probably isn't dead then. I mean, it probably takes a lot to take her down and they never found the body."

"Yeah, I guess so. So I think that this murder investigation might become a search for a missing person." I said nervously.

"Okay. We'll find her Red. I'm sure of it." he said confidently. I looked at him. How can he be so sure? How can he do that?

"Because Red. We're pretty much unstoppable, remember?" he said, as though he could read my mind. Honestly. I'm supposed to be the mind reader here.

"Right. As long as we're together." I said quietly. I'm still not over everything that has happened and I don't know if I ever will be. But as long as we're together, well it gets easier.

We slowly fell back asleep.

(LATER)

I woke up to Jason screaming loudly, his eyes searching around in fear. This happens sometimes. He looked at me and there was no recognition, just darkness and fear and wild anxiety.

I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm right here Jase. I'm right here. It's okay. You're safe." I murmured in his ea and e tried to break free from my iron grip. He doesn't know what he's doing right now, and he isn't himself either.

So I'm not letting go. Slowly he stopped screaming and small sobs racked his body. I pulled him closer and kept saying reassurances. He buried his face in my shoulder as he let out the tears. I just tightened my embrace because that's all I can really do.

"It's all okay now. You're safe. We're together. We're alright." I said. He looked at me and his eyes looked tired and worn out, but it's still him.

"I'm okay." he said quietly. I smiled weakly and he returned the unsure smile. I hate this. I hate our stupid lives. Why us? Why did it have to be us? Why are we plagued by nightmares? It's just not fair.


	2. Wanda Maximoff

**Hi friends! Sorry this took so long, I've just been really busy. I thought I'd have more free time during the break but I guess not. This is the new chapter! Enjoy and review please! :) Happy holidays! :)**

(JADE POV)

I woke up next to Jason and right now I didn't want to move. I didn't want to go anywhere. So I stayed right there and didn't move a muscle.

I closed my eyes and memorized the feeling of this, because who knows how long it'll last? The feeling of safety and security.

He woke up and looked at me. I kissed him on the lips and he deepened it.

After a few minutes I pulled away and wrinkled my nose jokingly. "You have bad morning breath." I teased.

He smirked and kissed me again. I didn't pull away this time, instead moving closer.

After a long time of making out we separated. "We have a mission to take care of. We have to get up now." I said reluctantly.

He pulled me down next to him. "Red! I'm exhausted. I don't know when the last time I got a good night's sleep was." He protested.

I sighed. "Same here, but I have some sense of responsibility Jase. Cmon!" I told him.

"But-"

"No."

"Uggghhhhhhh. Just stay here." He muttered, pulling me closer. I got up and glared at him lightly from where I was standing.

"Get up." I told him. He groaned and got up reluctantly, rubbing his eyes. "Now go change and wash up." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Yes ma'am." He muttered, grabbing his clothes and heading to the bathroom.

He tried opening the door and it wa jammed shut. Completely. Not even his super strength did the trick. I tried as well to no avail.

"Okay… Now how to get to the outside bathroom without being seen." I thought out loud.

He grinned cheekily at me. "You know, you could just change here. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

I hit his arm semi hard. "Ow!" He helped, although I know I didn't actually hurt him.

"You deserved that." I informed him before quickly changing into my SHIELD tactical suit.

He did the same and then we grabbed our toothbrushes and combs and whatever else we needed and headed out to find another bathroom.

(MARLIN POV)

I heard the water running and splashing noises from the bathroom, and I saw the door open so I peeked in to find Jade and Jason attempting to brush their teeth over the same sink.

"Jase! Move over!" I heard Jade protest.

"Red! You're taking up all the water!" Jason replied.

"Stop pushing me!"

"Then you stop pushing me!"

"Um guys, there's another sink right over there." I told them, pointing right across the hall.

They blushed. "Um thanks." They said, and Jade moved over to the different bathroom. I gave both a look before walking off.

I went into the kitchen to see Ria already up and eating. She just looked at me pointedly and I sat down and ate as well.

Jade and Jason walked in, looking exhausted and worn out already. Ria looked at me pointedly and I shrugged. Of course they're worn out, they didn't really get much sleep last night from what we could hear.

Last night we had looked through their files and it was honestly shocking. Everything on there was a little overwhelming to be honest. For two teenagers they've been through a lot. So Jason can feel emotions and control fire, while Jade is telekinetic and telepathic. And they're both super soldiers? No wonder they're senior agents.

Oh and did I mention that they live in Avengers Tower? FREAKING AVENGERS TOWER?!

"Jason, are you eating all of that?" Ria asked, looking at the amount of cereal he had poured into his bowl. He laughed and grinned.

"Yes. I need to eat extra because of my faster than normal metabolism." he said. Then Jade sat down next to him with her cereal, around the same amount he put in his bowl.

"Yeah, so meals have to be a bit larger, although we've both gone months on end without food, so you know, we're good." she said nonchalantly. I glanced at Ria.

"So we're going to leave in half an hour. We have to check the site, search for the body, try and identify the murderer." She said.

"Okay, but there are some things you need to know. Can we trust you?" Jade asked, giving us each a piercing look, as if scrutinizing every detail of our lives. Actually, she probably is.

"You tell me." I replied. She smirked.

"Okay, cool. So anyway, Aria Rogers is my half-sister. Born out of my dad's DNA, she is a super soldier. Also, she's lived through the impossible before, and no body was found. We're guessing that she's alive and in hiding. She should be 28 right now." Jade replied.

Jason was giving us each an intense look, silently warning us that if we betray them, we won't make it out alive. And to be honest, I don't doubt it.

"Okay, so we're looking for someone then." Ria summed up.

"Yeah. Basically." Jason said.

(LATER JASON POV)

We were in a forest area with lots of trees, green grass, and mysterious patches of dry grass.

We landed the plane and suddenly Jade bolted out of the plane, heading off in a specific direction. I looked at a distant point and saw a blond woman running away from her, equally as fast. Aria. I bolted after them leaving Ria and Marlin completely confused.

Jade made a tree crash in front of Aria and the woman in question turned around and her eyes widened.

"Mom?" she asked, but then her eyes narrowed when Jade got closer and she flipped over the tree, continuing her run. She probably thought that Jade was Aunt Tasha. Jade followed her and crashed three trees in front of her and around her and I put a ring of fire around her and she stopped in her tracks, drawing her guns and shooting at us. Jade stopped all the bullets telekinetically and grabbed her icer, shooting it at her sister.

She approached the ring amongst the gun and she was struggling to deflect all the bullets. I moved the ring of fire for just a moment so she could get in and then I followed, watching them go at it.

Jade took the guns away and knocked them into the fire and then Aria pulled out knives from her sleeves and Jade pulled out hers. They were going knife on knife and were so equally matched it was a little scary. Except Red can read minds.

Eventually I joined in, going two on one. Quickly we overpowered her and she smirked. "So. The great Jade Rogers." she said, looking at Jade.

"Yes, and you must be my older sister that I knew nothing about." Red hissed back.

"You know, for a second there I thought you were Mom." Aria said. Jade unsheathed one of her knives and pressed it against her neck quickly.

"Distracting me won't work. Yes, I actually am your sister. And no, dad didn't tell me about you. And yes, I can read your mind." she said sharply.

"Prove it." Aria replied.

"Mom was pregnant with me when you were kidnapped. Dad, Uncle Clint, Uncle Tony, Uncle Lincoln, Uncle James, and Uncle Bruce all came to save you. I can call dad if you want." Jade said, already calling.

Jade: "Hi dad, I have somebody here who needs proof of who I am." she said.

Steve: "Hi Jade. Are you okay?" he asked completely ignoring the second half of her statement.

Jade: "Yes I'm fine. Aria is right in front of me and doesn't believe that I'm your daughter."

Steve: "Aria?"

Aria: "Hi dad."

Steve: "Aria! How are you doing?"

Aria: "I'm good dad."

Jade: "Ehem! Back on topic."

Steve: "Aria, meet your little sister Jade."

Aria: "Yeah we're already acquainted. She kind of attacked me." she said dryly.

Jade: "You were shooting guns at me. And you had every intention to kill me if necessary."

Aria: "You don't know that."

Jade: "Yes I do. You also thought I was mom for a second. I'm a telepath remember."

Aria: "Right, how did that even happen?"

Everyone went silent and Jade hung up the phone. Aria narrowed her eyes at us and Jade just shrugged.

"We don't discuss that." Red said nonchalantly. But I know her better than that. She doesn't want to talk about it to anyone else. Of course, Aria probably has ways to find out.

"How about you two bond. I mean you are sisters." I suggested, ignoring the glares they gave me. I've been best friends with one of Aunt Tasha's daughters since I was born. I'm practically immune to those glares.

"Fine." Aria said sharply.

(JADE POV)

I looked at my sister. She has dark blue eyes and long straight blond hair. Basically the opposite of me.

"So. How old are you?" She asked. I rolled my eyes and gave her a look.

"18. And you're 28." I replied. "How about favorite color?"

"You know that shade of green that is slightly lime but not really? That's my favorite color. Kind of like mom's eyes. And yours too I guess."

"That my favorite color too. Favorite cereal?" I asked, a little surprised.

"Honey bunches of oats with almonds." She said. I grinned.

"I live off of those." I told her. She grinned and spotted something on my shoulder, stopping me and looking at it. When I saw what she was looking at, I surprised myself by not pulling away. As weird as it sounds, I trust this lady who was shooting at me a few minutes ago.

"Where did you get these?" She asked me, looking concerned at a patch of scars on my shoulder from where a piece of cloth had gotten cut off.

"I was kidnapped when I was 14. For a month. That's how I became a telepath. It's also how I became inhuman and how I got even stronger than dad."

"Jade-"

"No. It's fine. I don't want to go back into that. Just forget about it." I said shortly.

"But why did they make you more powerful?"

"They wanted me to become those personal weapon. They wanted me to betray my own family. And I didn't. So this happened."

"Jade, I know you're struggling with this. From what I can see you haven't gotten a full night of sleep since then except for maybe a couple of times, and you probably have panic attacks every once in a while. It's okay to not be okay after something like that."

"It's been four years. I need to get over it." I said shortly. I'm not going to break down in front of her. Not here, not now.

"Believe me, I get that. You know that I do. And I'm still not over what happened to me 18 years ago. But it gets better. Once you accept what happened and the fact that it's part of who you are today, you can truly move on. Pushing it away won't do anything." She told me gently.

"But what if I just want to forget? What if I don't want to accept it?" I said, glaring at a random tree as though it had committed some terrible crime.

"That's the thing Jade, you don't. Think about it. How would you live without your telepathy now? I can already see that you are highly dependant on it. Those things that happened to you, however the means of them happening, happened for a reason." she said.

Thinking about it, I know she's right, but I don't want her to be. Thinking about it, I'm thinking of something else that happened in the past. When I was sick and Aunt Wanda told me that I had to put down my barriers in order to get better. She told me I had to accept what was happening. I had to accept my powers. Then I got it. I whipped around my gun and aimed it at Aria, sending a telepathic message to Jase for him to stop.

"So Aunt Wanda, you thought you could fool me that easily?" I asked sharply. Her form shimmered and she turned back to her real look.

"I did what I had to do." she replied, her accent thick.

"Where's Aria?" I asked sharply. I can't believe I just- I trusted this lady. I thought she was my sister. But no, she's just another liar. Another person who I can't trust. I had thought she was trustworthy after she helped me with my sickness but not anymore.

"I cannot tell you that." she said. I glared intensely at her and searched her brain for anything.

"Okay." I replied, finding what I was looking for, and shooting her in the shoulder. She blacked out almost instantly. My icer is officially my new best friend. Sorry Jase.

I dragged her over to the plane with Jase by my side. He was silent the whole way there and once we got on the plane I looked at him.

"Okay, what's up?" I asked him. He had an intense gaze fixed on the floor, deep in thought.

"What?" he asked, startled out of his concentration. He looked at me. "Oh, nothing. But I think Aunt Wanda was right. I don't think she was just making up any of what she told you."

"I don't want her to be right." I muttered, crossing my arms and looking away.

"Yeah, me neither. But sometimes the only way to get what you want is to be patient." he said quietly. That was the last straw for me, and thank god we were in a locked room, because I think Ria and Marlin would be absolutely terrified.

"What if I don't want to be patient anymore? What if I've been waiting for the past four years for life to just get better? What if I don't want to wait anymore? I'm just so done with everything. Just forget it. What's the point of even living like this? Constant nightmares, panic attacks, random triggers, what is the freaking point?" I rampaged. I could see the look in his eyes. The pain, the sadness, the brokenness, and I hate myself for causing that. I hate it.

"Red-" he started quietly.

"No Jase. I just cause everyone more pain, including myself. Why am I still here? Why do I even continue living like this?" I was screaming at this point, tears flooding down my face and he just pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Because Red, even if you think that nobody else needs you, I do. Maybe it's selfish of me, but _I_ need you. Without you, I have no point of living either. But you're here. And we're together. So it'll be okay. Red, I promise you, it'll be okay. Just don't- don't leave me." he whispered into my hair, his voice breaking lightly. And I hate myself more now. Because how could I be so selfish? How could I even ask why I'm still here. Jase is the only reason I'm still here. If not, I would've ended things four years ago.

"I won't. I won't, Jase." I promised, holding on tight. And we stood there like that for a long time. Because on the outside, to everyone else, we can be strong, we can be indifferent and nonchalant and hide the horror that plagues us. But inside, inside we're still shells of the people we used to be. But maybe, maybe we aren't shells.

Maybe I'm comparing myself to who I used to be. Maybe I'm just different. Maybe- no. No. I'm just broken and miserable and pathetic. This is my brain trying to raise hope where it doesn't need to be. I'm not going to think, dream, that there could possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel, and then have it get ripped out from under me. Not again.

I just cried and let it out into his chest, because what else am I supposed to do at this point? He had buried his face in my hair and we were holding on to each other like lifelines, because honestly, that's what we are.

Without him, I would've ended things long ago, and I like to think he could've been stronger than me, and carried on without me, but I highly doubt it.

I sighed and pulled away reluctantly. "We should probably go talk to Ria and Marlin, maybe talk to my parents and see if they can help." I said.

He nodded and then it was back, the indifference. The mask that we both put on to the outside world, showing a confident and healed smile. When really, that's not how it is. Too much has happened for that to be the reality.

"Hey guys. So the lady that's unconscious in the interrogation room is Wanda Maximoff. An avenger that doesn't live in Avengers Tower. So she's trustworthy, but she also knows where Agent Aria is and refuses to tell us. For what reasons I have no idea." I said as we walked into the room. Marlin nodded and pulled something up on the screen.

"Okay, so I ran facial recognition to see if any video cameras anywhere have picked her up. We have three hits. All three in the same region of Alaska." he said.

We nodded and he zoomed in on the location. Jase flinched lightly seeing what was there. It was the exploded ruins of the place where they had tortured him. Basically rendered him completely broken after only a single day. "Of course." I muttered under my breath.

"Okay, I'm going to call up my parents and see if they know what on earth Aria could be doing in Alaska of all places." I said, trying to sound indifferent. I pulled up a video connection to all of our parents, and Nat and Riley were there.

"Auntie Jay!" Riley said excitedly. I smiled and waved as she banged on the screen, slightly confused as to why she could see and hear me, but couldn't touch me. Baby thought are amusing.

"Okay RIley, they probably have important things to talk about honey. Let's move away." Nat said, pulling the baby away. She pouted.

"Anyway, you all remember Aria? Well our mission is a murder investigation for her. But she's not dead. So we're searching for her. We thought we had found her in the woods, but it turns out that it was just Aunt Wanda pretending to be her. She refused to tell us where Aria is and we figured out where she is: Alaska. Well, not just anywhere in Alaska." I said, transmitting a file of the location that shows up on their screen.

I could see the simultaneous confusion and recognition in their faces. "What is Ari doing there?" Nat muttered, scanning the screen. Apparently they're really close, even to this day.

"Well, she probably has her reasons. And she knows how to disappear off the radar if she needs to. I taught her that much. So where would you go if you had to go off the radar as dead for a while?" my mom mused out loud.

"Well, I would probably go somewhere that nobody would even think of going to, somewhere that has no currently standing buildings with technology, none of that." I replied. She nodded and pointed at her screen.

"This place meets all of those requirements. There's a reason she was only found my three cameras in the whole world. She was probably under the assumption that those cameras weren't working. Although that's highly unlike her. Most likely she wants to be found. But that doesn't make sense either." my dad said.

"What if she isn't hiding from you? What if she is trying to lure you down there?" Agent X asked. My eyes widened.

"But why? Why would we need to go down there? We already set course for there, so we'll be there in about 15 minutes." I said. I glanced over at Jase who was gritting his teeth and glaring at the ground.

No way am I going to make him go down there if he doesn't want to. I remember when we got to that old shack on the outskirts of New York City, I broke down. He can't afford to break down, not now, not ever.

"Aunt Skye, do you think you could hack the NSA again please? We can use the satellite footage. Because there is always the chance that she messed with the cameras." I asked. SHe nodded and grabbed her laptop.

"Man, they've upped the security." she muttered, then after a few seconds, she looked up. "Got it. Okay, so she's still in Alaska, same location. There's absolutely no way she could've hacked the NSA's satellite feed." she said, showing us the footage on our screens.

"Guys, just don't hurt her okay? I know you're capable of it, but be careful. She's not a bad guy." Nat said.

"I know Nat. We won't. Besides, she probably won't put up a fight once she knows who we are." I said. She nodded.

"What about Wanda?" Uncle Clint asked us. Aunt Laura was away visiting Cooper and his family. Uncle Clint couldn't tag along because he was away on a mission when she left and he's leaving later today.

"She's in the interrogation room. I know she's an avenger and that technically she's not a bad guy, but I don't really like or trust her at the moment." I said.

"Why not? What did she do?" Uncle Bruce asked us. I tensed ever so slightly and I know at least half of them noticed.

"Let's just say she attacked me and was shooting guns at me and then betrayed my trust when I opened up to her." I summarized. They looked at me skeptically but didn't push.

"Okay, can we talk to her?" my dad asked. I nodded and left the room, bringing Aunt Wanda back with me.

"Your daughter doesn't trust me." She said, giving me a look. I glared back.

"No I do not." I muttered.

"Wanda, why were you disguised as Aria?" my mom asked. She grimaced.

"I had to. As to why, well, that is for Aria to tell you, not me." she replied. I glared at her harder and my mom gave me a warning look through the screen.

"Fine then." my dad said, pulling out his phone. He called Aria and surprisingly, she picked up.

"Dad?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hi Aria, it's me. Are you done with your mission?" he asked. She hesitated before answering.

"Sort of." she said. "Is mom there?"

"Well, everyone is here." he replied.

"Okay, so I kind of have to pretend to be dead for a little while, okay? So don't tell Eddie! I have some . . . business to take care of." she said.

"Aria, don't do anything dangerous." my mom said over the phone, using that tone reserved only for Juliana and I.

"Well mom, I kind of have to. It's necessary." she said cryptically.

"Ari? Why can't Eddie know?" Nat asked.

"Because Nat. If he does, bad things will happen. I need a select two people to follow me here, and nobody else." she said insistently. Nat grabbed the phone from my dad and walked out of the room.

I focused in on their conversation through Nat's mind.

Natalie: "Ari, do you have any idea where you are right now?"

Aria: "Nat-"

Natalie: "No. Aria Rogers, I swear to god if you harm single freaking hair on my brother or his girlfriend, I will find you and murder you slowly and painfully. Understand?" she hissed.

Aria: "Natalie, I'm not going to hurt them."

Natalie: "Not physically. I know what you're planning Aria. You have no ideo what that'll do to him. You need to stop."

Aria: "You don't know what I'm planning."

Natalie: "Well your sister does. Remember Jade? The _telepath_? She's probably listening to this conversation right now."

I grinned. Nat knows me so well. Everyone looked at me confused. They had been talking about god knows what, and I just randomly started smiling.

Aria: "Nat, please. She's not my sister. I've never met her."

Natalie: "And who's fault is that?"

Aria: "Natalie, you know I would've but-"

Natalie: "No Ari. You could've but you didn't. Now you think you know what's best for them? Leave them out of this."

Aria: "You can't make me."

Natalie: "You don't know who you're dealing with. I suggest you stop before I have the whole of SHIELD after you."

Aria: "And how do you plan to do that?"

Natalie: "My husband's the director of SHIELD, my father-in-law is the former director, my parents are two of the best agents to ever have worked at SHIELD, not to mention that I live with the freaking Avengers."

Aria: "My mom and dad won't stand for that."

Natalie: "They're Jade's parents too, or did you forget? They wouldn't betray her for the world, and you know it. She's been through too much for them to just betray her because they knew you first. They raised Jade, tried to be there for her as much as they could, and where were you? You were off being a secret agent! You left all of us because you thought you were above this. Above actually knowing your little siblings."

Aria: "Are you suggesting that my parents would betray me? Because they wouldn't."

Natalie: "No. I'm just saying that they won't betray Jade." she said before hanging up the phone.

I then sobered up and dragged Jase into a separate room, leaving everyone in even more confusion.

He looked at me and sighed. I looked back at him concerned. Going back to that place won't be good for him. I know it for sure. But if he wants to go, then who am I to stop him?

"What do you want to do now? You don't have to go if you don't want to." I told him. He sighed a little bit.

"I don't know. I really really don't want to. But I can't let you go there alone either." he said quietly.

"Then don't come. I can handle things for myself. Also, well, Aria is planning something. I can't read her mind that clearly because I'm so far away, but I do know that it's not going to be pretty." I said quietly.

"But I can't just stay here and take the coward's way out. I need to deal with this." he protested. I looked at him and how much he'd changed in the past year and a half.

"I know. I get it. But I don't want you to put yourself in danger for me." I said.

"Please Red. I'll always put myself in danger for you." he said. However cheesy it sounds I know he means it. I smiled.

"I love you Jase, you know that right?" I said.

"I love you too Red." he said. I leaned up and kissed him slowly. I still find it odd even after a year and a half that he's that much taller than me. That I have to lean up!


	3. Charlie Martin

**Hi guys! Sorry for the wait once again! You can just expect one chapter per week because I don't think I'll be able to do it more often that that. So anyway, we're finally going to meet Aria! I swear she's not going to be a douche! :)**

(JADE POV)

I walked back into the room with Jason and then I got a call from Nat. I answered it and didn't put it on speaker because Ria and Marlin were standing next to us.

"Hey Nat." I said.

"Jade. Aria is acting weird. I can't talk long but here's the deal. Whatever you do, Jason cannot go down there. Try to read her mind, do whatever you have to do, just don't let him go there." she said quickly.

"Why not? Do you know what she's planning?" I asked.

"No. But I do know that she's not planning anything good, and regardless of that, taking him there in general is just a bad decision." she said.

"Nat, it's not my choice." I told her. She sighed over the phone.

"I know Jade, but just this once, try to listen to me and not be stubborn. Try picking Aria's brain. Something's off about her. She's usually not like this. She actually cares about people's emotions above the mission. She would never do this." Nat told me.

"But Nat. It's. Not. My. Choice. I can't just decide for him. I'll try and see what's up with her, but I can't stop him from doing what he wants to do." I said exasperatedly.

"Can I talk to him?" she asked.

"Yeah." I replied. I gave the phone to Jase who raised his eyebrows and answered.

"Hey Nat." "No." "What?" "Nat-" "But-" "No." "NO!" "Not happening." "Yes I know I'm stubborn." "I will." "Okay." "No I won't get myself killed." "You're worse than mom." "Nat, I have to go." "Bye." he said. He hung up and handed me the phone.

He gave me a look and I know exactly what happened. "I'll be right back." I said, walking out and into a separate room, locking myself in it. I focused on Aria's thoughts but was blocked out.

I looked deeper and could hear two different voices in her head. Either this is some strange identity crisis or it's mind control. Oh god. I focused in on the voices, trying to pinpoint the intruder.

Then it spoke to me. 'Hello, Jade. So we meet again.' it said. Then it clicked. Oh my god no no no no no no no no. This can't be happening. Not again. Who is this person and why are they trying to ruin my life? First my boyfriend then my older sister? What?

I mentally replied. 'Get out of her head.' I told him. He didn't respond so I tried to get into his brain. I closed my eyes and focused all of my energy into this.

Then it was like I was in a trance, and I have no idea how this happened. Suddenly I was facing him, inside of a blank black room. Or space is probably the better way to say it. There were no walls, no ceilings, no floors. None of that. And he was standing in front of me with a sadistic smile on his face and a crazed look in his eyes. He looked strangely familiar but from where I have no idea.

He was younger, 19 or 20 I'd guess. He had bright blue eyes and blond hair, and his eyes were burning in rage behind that insane look. We were just staring at each other in complete silence, analyzing each other, trying to pick each other's brains.

I broke down the walls in his mind and tried to get all the information I could. Then suddenly I blinked. "Charlie? Charlie Martin?" I asked.

He glared at me. "Oh so now you remember me." He spat. I stepped forward. What happened to him? He wasn't evil. He was the same as me. Kidnapped by Ward, experimented on. I didn't know that he was a telepath.

"What happened to you? Why are you like this?" I asked him.

"You left me there. You left me there when you escaped. DIdn't even think twice about the others there. No of course not. You're the reason I became like this." He accused. The sudden guilt dropped in my stomach like an anvil.

"I'm so sorry Charlie. I'm so sorry and you know it. I'm not going to try and make excuses because I was selfish and I should've remembered you. But just know that this isn't the way to get back at me. You can try and try and try, but I'm not going to give up and crumble." I told him.

He laughed. "Oh it's working though. You're almost at the breaking point. You see, after you escaped, they enhanced my telepathy. I know that you're almost there. Just a few more things and you'll crack." he said, grinning evilly. I wanted to get out of here but that's not the answer.

"Don't you have people you care about now? Who care about you? I was close to becoming like this. I murdered all of those sick people. I became a monster because of that. Don't let them get to you too." I told him. I knew I struck a nerve. He found his girlfriend again. And she also looks strangely familiar.

He had paled considerably and was shaking. "Charlie Martin, you are not a murderer. You are not evil. You're just a guy that didn't deserve any of what happened to him. So don't let them make you something you're not." I said.

"Jade, they already have. They already took everything from me. Everything. They killed my parents. They killed my sister. Every last person. And I intend to do the same to you." he said.

"You can try. I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to, I will. Now get out of her head or I'll do it myself. I've done it before." I threatened.

"I'm not going out without a fight." he hissed. I glared at him and focused all of energy into getting him out of her head. He was sending memories into my head, resurfacing things that I had tried so hard to push away. He knows my weaknesses. He's been inside Jase's head. I felt terrible doing this, but I started manipulating his brainwaves, causing him incredible pain. His defenses faltered for a second and I used that opportunity to get him out. I directed every bit of strength I had left into getting him out.

He collapsed, but not before he gave me one last look of pure hatred and anger. Then I too blacked out.

(JASON POV)

Red had gone, to where I had no idea, but she had been gone for a while now. I searched around for her before hearing her talking from a locked room, seemingly to herself. I melted the lock and walked in to see the strangest sight. She was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes glazed over, talking to somebody. No emotion was sown on her face, but she was talking to someone named Charlie Martin. Wasn't Martin Sofia's last name?

She suddenly let out some terrible telepathic thing that nearly knocked me out. I went up to her and tried snapping her out of it, but it wasn't working.

"Red? Red, snap out of it!" I said, but she wasn't responding. I tried shaking her, none of that. Then suddenly she just went unconscious. I picked her up and put her on the couch, then walked out.

"Hey Marlin? Can you run a search up for someone named Charlie Martin?" I asked him. He looked confused but nodded and did it anyway.

"Okay, Charles Alexander Martin. 20 years old. Kidnapped at age 16, held inside a facility in Australia. Telepath. Let's see . . . oh, and he has a girlfriend named Tiana Ramirez." He said, pulling up various files on this guy. Tiana looks eerily like Sofia, and I have no doubt that those are her parents.

"Oh, here's his voice if that's any help." Marlin said, playing a small audio file. I could've punched something, because of course my son's future girlfriend's dad had to be the guy that took over my brain. Of course. Because that's the kind of screwed up life we have.

Ria looked over at me. "Are you okay? Where's Jade?" she asked. I smiled sardonically.

"Oh I'm just great. She blacked out. Speaking of which, I have to go back there now and check on her." I said. THey shared a confused look before I walked out. I walked into the room to find her sitting on the couch, apparently awake, and muttering to herself.

"So you know Sofia? From the future? Well her dad was with me when I got kidnapped and when I escaped I forgot about him and now he's going on a crazy rampage trying to destroy everything and everyone that I care about. He's the guy that took over your brain, and I only just got him out of Aria's brain, and now I have to do everything I can to block him out of her head, my head and your head." she said continuously, not stopping to take a breath until she was done.

"Yup. That's how messed up this is. Our future son's girlfriend's dad is a psychopath." I summed up. She looked at me.

"I know right. So basically we can go down there now and talk to Aria without her planning something dangerous. But I can't do much once I'm there. He's still trying to get into our heads. I have to focus on this. I didn't think I'd ever have to try and stop another telepath from getting into three different people's heads." she muttered sarcastically.

'We'll figure it out. Maybe Aria knows something." I said. She snorted, getting up and pacing around the room.

"Yeah, we always have to figure it out." she muttered. I looked at her. "I mean, why us? Why can't somebody else do it? There are hundreds of agents at SHIELD, so why us? Why do these people seem to be so intent upon ruining our lives? It's not right. It's not fair. I mean, it's not like we did some sort of crazy bad thing to deserve any of this. We could be normal, but nooooooo. We have to get problem after problem with no solution. And we can't just have normal lives. We can't just be blissfully ignorant about all the crazy things that happen in all nine realms. Nope. Of course not. I'm ranting aren't I?" She rampaged. I cracked a small smile.

"Yeah, you are." I told her, standing up and wrapping my arms around her from behind. "We don't have to do this anymore. We could figure this out and then just stop. We don't have to keep ourselves here." I said.

"But then who will do this? Who will stop all these creeps who are just inherently evil? Who will? We can never just stop." she said.

"Hey. We got rid of a guy who all of our parents have been after for years but couldn't do it. And we did it. So I think that we can handle anything the world throws at us at this point." I told her.

"I don't know if I can." she said quietly. I turned her around and looked at her. This isn't like her at all.

"Why would you say that?" I asked her. She looked away.

"No reason. I just have doubts." she said.

"Red. Look at me." I said. Eventually she did. "You can Red. You always have, and you always will." I told her.

"But what if-" I cut her off, kissing her.

I pulled away and searched her eyes. "Don't think about the what-ifs. They'll drive you insane. Just focus on what's here now. Trust me." I said. She drew in a sharp breath and nodded.

"I love you Jase." she said hugging me.

"I love you too." I replied, hugging her back.

"Guys, the plane is about to land. Gear up." We heard Marlin say from the doorway. We looked at each other tiredly and grabbed our stuff, heading out.

We exited the plane and I could feel the flashbacks wash over me even from feeling the cold air wash over me. At least I'm not being shoved this time. Red tilted her head over to the left, signalling me to follow her. We went a little further, walking silently despite the crunchy snow beneath us, until we saw a woman come out from behind the building, her hands raised in surrender.

(JADE POV)

There's my older sister. The wind blew back her long blond hair and her blue eyes seemed to pierce through my skull. Yup. She looks eerily like Juliana, albeit much older. She has this confident air to her, and even in surrender she looked like she was absolutely positive that she could take us both if she had to. She had multiple cuts all over and a bloody gunshot wound on her leg, but she still looked terrifying. I don't know where she got that from, because I got it from my mom.

"Jade? Jason? I'm not going to hurt you." she said, walking towards us warily. She stopped once she was a few feet away and put her hands down. I lowered my gun and went closer.

"So. You're my older sister that I had no idea about." I said. She winced.

"Yeah . . . sorry about that. It's my fault. I told dad not to tell you. But thanks for getting Charlie out of my head." she said.

"How did you know his name?" I asked, aiming my gun quickly.

"Relax. I know his name because I'm the one that rescued him. I helped him in Australia but once he found out that you were my sister he ran away. I hadn't seen him since. I trusted him, and then he took over my mind. The creep." she said.

I could almost laugh. "Oh you think that's creepy? His future daughter who gets orphaned ends up becoming our future son's girlfriend. That lives with us in Avenger's Tower." I told her, putting away the gun.

She gave me an odd look. "Time Travel? Why does Nat leave out all the good stuff? I mean, I talk to her every week, but no, she just tells me the boring stuff. Like who kissed who and who caught who doing what." she said. I grinned.

"I like you." I told her. She grinned back, and Jase just looked in between us like we were crazy.

"Glad to hear that. So tell me, what does Juliana look like?" she asked me.

"Mini you." I told her. She looked at me incredulously.

"Okay then. It's cold out here. Let's go inside." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"It's not as if any of us can feel the cold Aria." I pointed out. She laughed, and Jason's eyes bugged out.

"This is really disorienting. You guys talk the same, smile the same, and laugh the same. At least you don't look the same." he muttered, walking back to the plane. I laughed and followed him. I don't understand my emotions right now. One minute I'm having a ranting session, and the next I'm all giddy? What? I'm starting to think that the boys are right. Girls are confusing.

We got on the plane and Ria looked at us, then at her, and she gasped. "Oh my god. You have a gunshot wound? Come here. Now. And none of that agent bravado." she said to Aria, taking her to the medlab.

I glanced at Jase who was staring aimlessly at the wall, seemingly deep in thought. "Jase? Are you okay?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "Aunt Wanda would've known that Aria was under mind control and wouldn't have helped her. So why?" he said. My eyes widened.

"Oh god. Where is she?" I asked.

"Training room." he said as we both started walking down there. We grabbed guns and I telekinetically brought along twelve extras. Who knows?

We cornered her and had guns pointed at her from all angles. "Why did you stall us? You knew that Aria was under mind control. You knew it so why didn't you tell us? And why did you try to be her?" I interrogated.

She tilted her head. "Please. Let's be civil." she said. I lowered a single gun and glared at her.

"There you go. Now talk." I said. She snorted.

"Okay. I knew Aria was under mind control and I wasn't skilled enough to get rid of it. So I needed your help. However, I had no idea where Aria was at the time, so I needed you guys to figure it out. I gave you the mystery to solve. You never would have found her if it wasn't for me. And you needed to go there because now you know where to find Charles. And besides, if I had told you, would you have believed me? No." she explained.

"Wrong. We don't know where to find Charlie and we still could've found her if it wasn't for you." Jase said.

"But you do know. Pay attention Jade. Use the abilities you've been given." she said, before somehow just disappearing. I rolled my eyes.

"Use the abilities you've been so graciously _given_ , Jade." I mocked, mimicking her accent. "Given. Pfft. Yeah, because this was such a gift." I muttered.

Jase looked at me concerned. "Are you doing alright?" he asked me. I sighed.

"No. How on earth am I supposed to keep him out of all of their heads?" I asked. He tilted his head.

"Maybe you should stop trying to block him out, and try to keep him in. Contain him inside his own mind so he can't take over anyone else's." he said. My eyes widened.

"You're a genius!" I said, tackling him in a massive bear-hug. He grinned and hugged me back.

"I know. I know." he said. I shoved him playfully.

"Doofus." I said.

"Wow. We haven't used that one in a while." He said, smirking.

"Still works." I replied , kissing him on the lips. He deepened the kiss, his hands tightening around my waist.

(ARIA POV)

I walked downstairs into the training room to talk to Jade and Jason but instead of them talking or whatever I was executing them to be doing, they were eating each other's faces off with guns littered around them. Because that's exactly what I wanted to see right now. And it's totally not disturbing in any way at all.

I coughed loudly and they looked at me, their faces red. I barely held back a laugh. "Guys, we have mission to get to." I told them.

"Oh yeah, right." Jade said, still blushing. I smirked at them.

"Okay. First things first. You guys ran into Aunt Wanda right?" I asked them. They rolled their eyes.

"Yeah. We did. And she's a-" she stopped herself, looking at me with a highly irritated look on her face.

"I heard what she said. She was right you know. You wouldn't have believed her." I told them.

"I CAN READ HER MIND. Why does everyone seem to forget that?!" She said. Okay . . . highly volatile angry teenager alert.

"Was she maybe under mind control too?" I suggested. Her eyes widened.

"But that shouldn't be possible. To control two people at once, I mean, I've never even tried to control a single person. He did say that they enhanced his telepathy but-"

"You talked to him?" Jason asked incredulously. She facepalmed and looked at him.

"Let me explain." she said, then launched into the complete story of being in my brain. That's all good and stuff, but really? How did I not hear this happening?

"Oh my god. So he tried to kill you mentally?" Jason asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, basically. Well, I also tried to kill him mentally, but I tried appealing to his morals first. I'm not entirely heartless." she said.

"Okay, so chances are that Aunt Wanda was under mind control just as much as I was, although probably for a shorter time." I summed up. They nodded grimly, but didn't look surprised in the least. Either they're both really good at masking emotions, or they've seen too much to even be shocked at this point. Neither option is really good or reasonable.

I can tell that both of them have a lot of scars, physically and mentally. I'm not stupid. I know that they are hiding a lot of things from everyone. At this point I'm just really unsure as to what.

"Keep Charlie contained if you can. I'll go send out a SHIELD search for him. I'll have Agent Checlin run a search for him on the NSA satellite feed. Jason, find Aunt Wanda." I said, taking charge.

They nodded, but were grinning for whatever reason. "You sound too much like dad. You're like a century younger, female version of him." Jade said. I smiled.

"Well, that is kind of what I am. I have no DNA from the woman who gave birth to me except for what makes me female, so in essence, I am just the younger girl version of him." I said.

"Okay. That's not weird at all." Jason muttered, leaving. I laughed and walked out of the room. I have to figure out what's going on.

(JADE POV)

Okay. Work on somehow keeping this psycho Charlie inside his own head. I don't know what happened to him, but he used to be a good guy. Now he's well- bad. I focused on this again and this time, instead of breaking down his walls, I built up walls of my own inside his head. I could feel his energy rebelling, but it's not working. But by putting up walls, I can't hear his thoughts. So either I take the risk and find him or trust that Marlin can do it.

I sighed and concentrated. Then suddenly I felt a burning pain in my head. Like a constant anger building up in my head. I glanced at the doorway to see Jason, an evil glint in his eye. Crap.

"What's your problem Charlie? Get out of his head. I don't understand what you plan on achieving through this." I said, trying my hardest to get Charlie out of Jase's head.

"Of course you wouldn't understand. I want revenge Jade. I want you to feel true betrayal." He said. Then I got it. Ward used to work with Hydra. He was the head of Hydra.

Then how they brainwashed Uncle Bucky all that time ago. No doubt they have stronger serums now then they had then. And what was it that they wanted me for? A weapon. Oh my god it all makes sense now. He's brainwashed. He didn't run away from Aria he was kidnapped. I don't know how long Hydra's been planning this for, but they clearly thought this through.

"No Charlie. That's not what you want. That's what they want. Remember Miranda? What would she say if she saw you like this?" I said, trying to get through to him.

He faltered for a second. This is really odd. I'm trying to get through to my boyfriend who was brainwashed by another brainwashed person. Weird.

Then his face hardened again. "I don't know who Miranda is." he growled, before unleashing his assault on me once more.

I know how to get him out. It worked before. I charged at him and flipped him on his back, trying my best not to hurt him. Because the person it's going to hurt is Jason, not Charlie, which is so twisted and messed up.

I swung a punch at his head and he grabbed my fist and twisted. I ignored the piercing pain that shot up my arm and kneed him in the groin. He groaned and I used the distraction to telekinetically shoot him in the back with a tranq gun. He went down.

"Sorry Jase." I whispered. I don't like this one bit. And it's all my fault too. I should've been able to keep Charlie- no, not Charlie, Hydra- away. But I couldn't.

So I focused on getting him out. Focusing all of my energy into it. Suddenly he woke up and grabbed my hand. I tensed but didn't react. He looked up at me and I sighed in relief.

"Did you really have to kick me there?" he asked me, still groaning.

"Sorry. You're stronger than you were when we were 15." I told him. He got up and looked at me concerned.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked me.

"No."

"You're such a liar." he replied, taking my wrist gently and looking at it. "I can feel your pain. Literally." he said. I winced slightly and he just shook his head.

"I hate being mind controlled." he muttered.

"Does anyone really enjoy it?" I asked rhetorically.

"It's so frustrating. Not being in control of your own actions, I mean." he told me.

"Isn't it though?" we heard a voice say from the doorway. I aimed my gun at Charlie, and pulled out all the others that were still around us from when we cornered Aunt Wanda telekinetically.

"How did you get here?" I asked him.

"Easy. Aria doesn't know I'm here, and those other two agents? Not a challenge." he said, shrugging.

"What are you doing to me?" he asked suddenly, his blue eyes widening in pain. I looked at Jase who was seething. I could _see_ the anger radiating off of him. That's a first.

"I have some powers of my own, or did you forget using them only a few minutes ago?" he said. Okay okay, so he's doing this on purpose. That makes a little more sense.

"But this hurts me so much more than it- it hurt her." he strained out. My eyes widened as I saw Charlie's veins popping out of his arms.

"Yeah. Because even when you think you have complete control, you don't." Jase replied. Then he stopped and Charlie gasped for breath. "They don't have complete control over you either. Just think about the people who mean something to you. Think about them." he said.

I could've sighed in relief, because to be honest, Jason is terrifying like that. Absolutely and completely terrifying when he loses control of himself.

"They're dead." Charlie said, glaring at us, and about to whip out his gun.

"Don't even think about it. You make another move and I pull every single one of these triggers." I hissed. "Miranda's not dead. Miranda is alive and healthy and probably wondering what has happened to you. Remember Miranda." I said, repeating the name over and over. Each time I said her name, he faltered more and more, until he looked back at us and the hard look there was replaced with absolute confusion.

"Oh my god. I-I- What have I done?" he asked, clearly horrified. I walked up to him and he flinched visibly. He hasn't had a chance to recover from that place. Once he had gotten out, he was still brainwashed. I glanced at Jase and he nodded. No sudden movements. No physical contact.

"It's okay Charlie. You weren't in control. It's okay now." I said. His eyes darted between us.

"You probably shouldn't just trust me like that. Who knows whether their control is really broken or not?" he whispered. I nodded and pointed to the tranq gun at my side.

"We're ready, but I don't think we'll need it." I said. He nodded unsurely and stood there, completely tensed. This is difficult to watch. Now I understand how my friends saw me when I came back.

"C'mon." I said, seeing as he wasn't going to follow unless we indicated it. We walked into the area where everyone else was at to see Aria immediately pointing her gun at him. He started freaking out, his eyes hardening and him flipping the gun away from Aria, who in turn pinned his arms behind his back and kicked his back, when he pulled away and punched her stomach.

That's when we intervened. Jase pulled away Aria and I made sure that Charlie wasn't about to attack anyone. I looked at Aria and pulled her out into the hallway.

"He was brainwashed. We got him out of it. But now he's in the state that I was in after I got back. He didn't have the past 4 years to recover. So right now, no sudden movements, no hostile actions, no physical contact, but act normal." I said firmly.

She looked at me. "So what you're saying is that he's extremely volatile and me pointing a gun at him wasn't helping? And you're speaking from personal experience." she said.

"Yes. We were kidnapped in the same facility. When I escaped I kind of forgot about him and so that's why he was kind of trying to ruin my life. He was brainwashed, so he had none of his former memories except for the ones Hydra wanted him to have. But when we raided the facility and killed Ward and arrested everyone else, he had no orders, nothing. So he was on his own and the only thing he could think of to do was get revenge on me because I was the one who was at fault for making him like that. Then we get him out of that state and he's basically a scared 16 year old. Okay? So just- I don't know. When I came back I blew up at everyone at least twice, tried to commit suicide, had at least 20 panic attacks, couldn't sleep for a few years without Jase. I also didn't wear anything revealing any skin for two years. So, just be careful, okay." I said.

"What did they do to you?" she asked quietly.

I tensed. But maybe- maybe Aunt Wanda was right. Maybe I do have to accept it to move on. "They wanted me to become like Charlie. A brainwashed weapon. They cut me all over, electrocuted me, waterboarding, injected me with several different pain-enhancing serums and they made me inhuman. They left a lot of scars." I said quietly, feeling the flashbacks coming on. I took a deep breath and rolled up my sleeve slightly, showing her just above my wrist, where there plenty of scars. Her eyes widened.

"Why did you tell me this?" she asked me.

"I- I don't know." I said. Then we heard Ria scream and we split up. I went back into the room with Jason and Charlie, while Aria went to help Ria and Marlin.


	4. Aria Rogers

**Hello! I'm so sorry for the long wait! I've just been really busy with school stuff. Anyway, I'm not abandoning any of my stories, I just have finals coming up. So in about three weeks finals will be over and I'll be able to update on my regular schedule once again. I'll still be updating, just not as often. I Hope you like this chapter. It's extra fluffy because that's what I do best! Here is where this mission is going to be resolved. This is also going to have a lot of fluff! So anyway, enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

I was sitting with Charlie. This is painful to watch. Reminds me too much of what happened to Red. Not to mention the fact the fact that he took over my brain not once but twice. I know it wasn't really his fault, but still.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- I-"

"It's okay Charlie. It wasn't you." I said. He looked away guiltily. I sighed. Red walked in and sat next to me.

"Okay. Charlie, what do you want to do? I mean, you could go to Avengers Tower. Or you could go back to Miranda? It's completely your choice." she said.

"I think- I want to go back to Miranda." he said unsurely. I remember Red used to do the exact same thing. Fear that the choice will be taken away right after. This is too familiar.

"Okay. I thought so. We'll set the plane that way." she said, getting up and tilting her head slightly, indicating me to follow her. I got up and sighed.

"What's up?" I asked her when we were out of his earshot.

"I don't know. I'm so sick of this. It's like an ongoing cycle that never stops. I kind of want to stop now. But at the same time nobody will do it if we don't. So I have no idea. Not to mention we have to go debrief Eddie on all of this. And Aria? What is she going to do after this? And what about-"

"Hey. Calm down. It'll be alright Red. We'll figure it out. Charlie is going home, Aria is an Agent, she probably has other things to do, and debriefing Eddie? Well, it'll take a while, but it won't be that hard. As for us, well, I don't think we can quit even if we wanted to now. It's okay." I said.

"Okay. You're probably right. But I'm just nervous. Like really nervous." she said. She's been acting strangely lately. Ever since we got on the plane really. Overly nervous, panicky, ranting, she's usually not like this at all. Usually she kind of keeps her worries away. Of course, I know when she's worried, but she doesn't really say anything just for that reason.

"I know. It'll be okay." I said.

"Yeah. You're right." she replied.

"C'mon. Let's go see Marlin and Ria." I suggested. We walked into the mission planning area thing where Aria was explaining everything to Marlin and Ria. Those two looked totally bewildered.

They gave us a look that told me that they knew everything now. Or at least, whatever Aria knows. And the look Red gave me confirmed it. "Can you set course for this address? We're taking Charlie home." Jade said to Aria, who nodded.

"So. You know Charlie's girlfriend? Well that was an alias. She works with SHIELD, used to be on field, but after Charlie went missing she went to the desk work. Agent Miranda Ramirez. And she's also my second cousin." Marlin said. I looked in between the picture and him and raised my eyebrow.

"Technically she's a step-cousin but we grew up together so I don't really think of her that way." he explained. That makes more sense. She had long brown hair and looked to be hispanic, starkly contrasting his blond hair and green eyes.

"Right. So at least we'll have friendly face with us. Is she at home now?" Ria asked.

"Yeah. She hasn't gone on a mission in a while. Hardly even an agent at this point." He said.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier that you knew him?" Red asked.

He shrugged. "I had never met him. I just knew his name and some things about him. I had no idea. I thought that it was just common. I mean, there have to be a lot of Charlies with blond hair and blue eyes, right? I don't know, I was kind of worried about what would happen if it was him." Marlin said.

I nodded and then Aria told us that we had landed. We got off the plane and Red and I went first to warn her of what happened and make sure she doesn't trigger anything. Although I highly doubt she could.

We knocked and she opened the door, eying us warily. "Agent Miranda Ramirez?" I asked. She nodded.

"We found him." Was all Red said and then the interrogation started.

"What? Is he okay? Where is he? Does he even remember me?" She asked, her torrent of questions almost passing us by.

"He's- different. But he's fine overall. And yeah, he definitely remembers you. He's still on the plane because we need to talk to you about some things." Red said vaguely.

"Okay. Come in." Miranda said tensely, opening the door wider. We walked inside and sat down.

"So. What do I need to know?" She asked.

"Well, you have to be careful. He had been brainwashed by hydra, but when we took down their base last year, he had no orders and only specific memories. He hasn't had any opportunity to recover from hen he was kidnapped. He's inhuman, telepathic, and may have other abilities we don't know of. You might want to avoid physical contact and any sudden movements. Also, basically anything will terrify him, even if he won't admit it. He will probably have terrible nightmares, and closed doors aren't really a good idea. And if you get hurt, even just a small paper cut, he'll most likely get seriously concerned." Red informed her, her face expressionless the whole time.

"You sound as though you're talking from experience." Miranda said, analyzing Red's features.

"I am. He's basically been attempting to ruin my life for the past couple of years because we were at the facility together and when I escaped I may have forgotten about him. And that's all hydra let him remember about me. His memories all portray me as a bad guy." She replied tensely.

"You want to come on the plane and see him now?" I said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah." She said, and we walked out onto the plane. We saw Marlin first and he hugged Miranda briefly and smiled warily at us. Then we saw Charlie.

(Jade POV)

Charlie looked conflicted, as though he wasn't sure whether or not to believe this. I didn't believe it. I aimed a gun at Jason's head. Then he just rushed forward and hugged Miranda tightly, and she hugged back.

We left the room, giving them some time. I looked at Jase exhausted. It's around 9 in the morning and we were up all night last night, and the night before that we didn't get much sleep either. I could probably just collapse right here but nope. Can't do that. Miranda and Charlie are here, not to mention Aria.

I don't like new people, they're like variables I don't completely understand. They don't fit into the equation. I hate not knowing how things are going to work out, being unsure of myself. I hate it with a fiery passion. And it makes me slightly paranoid that something is going to go wrong at any given moment, because no matter what, there are always parts of a plan you can't account for, and being a spy just makes it worse because you can never truly know all the possible outcomes.

Never in a million years did I expect to see Charlie again, much less that he would try to kill me. Never did I once think that I had an older sister. I'll get used to it. Whatever. It's fine. Just push it away like I always do. My paranoia is a common occurrence, but usually I just brush it off. So I can do that this time too.

I could feel my eyelids drooping shut, so I snapped them back open. I glanced at Jase who was also consumed in his own thoughts. I wonder where Aria is. I sighed and left to go find her.

I walked into the training area only to find Aria punching madly at one of the punching bags, and there were two broken ones laying against the back wall as though they just flew off the hook. She didn't notice me come down.

"Hey." I said. She stopped and looked back at me, steadying the bag. I grabbed my other bag and put it on the hook. "Try that one. It has a vibranium hook and extra durable material." I said, smiling at her.

"Thanks. Uncle Tony made it for you?" She asked. I nodded tiredly.

"Nice. How are you holding up?" She asked me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told her with a yawn.

"You look exhausted." She pointed out.

"I am." I replied.

"You should get some sleep." She said, noticing my exhausted expression. I nodded, too tired to even argue at this point. I went back into the room where Jase was and sat down next to him.

"You don't look too good." He said.

"Well you don't look all that great either." I snapped back irritably. "Sorry. I'm just so tired. But I can't go to sleep yet." I said, sighing.

"Go to sleep. I'll make sure everything is okay." He said.

"But-" he cut me off.

"No buts. It'll be fine. Just sleep before you pass out somewhere." he said.

"You have to sleep too." I told him, noticing a similar tiredness in his eyes. He shrugged.

"I'll live." He said nonchalantly.

"Nope. Either you go to sleep with me or I'm not doing it at all." I said stubbornly.

"Red . . . We can't both go to sleep." he protested although he clearly had no objections.

"Aria can handle it." I said, putting my hands on my hips. He sighed in defeat, knowing there's no arguing with me at this point.

"Fine. But we have to tell her before-"

"No buts Jase." I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. "I'm tired. You're tired. They'll survive on their own for an hour." I told him.

He smirked and laid down, pulling me with him and snuggling into my shoulder. "If you say so." He said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes at him and cuddled closer to him, finally letting my eyes close. I could feel him smiling against my neck.

"What are you smiling about?" I mumbled, not opening my eyes.

"Nothing really. You're cute when you sleep." He said.

I laughed. "That was so cheesy Jase. So cheesy."

"Well I thought it was Gouda." He said, unable to hold in a laugh afterwards.

"Oh god. Stop. Please. Your puns are terrible." I told him.

"You want to hear another one?" He asked. Before I could say no he jumped right in.

"What do you call a fairytale written by a cow?" He asked. I was silent. "A dairytale!" He said.

"That's so corny, it should be a crime." I told him.

"Then maybe you should call the cobs!" He said, laughing uncontrollably. I smiled wryly.

"You are such a doofus. Oh my god." I said, my eyes open.

"I know. And I'm proud." He said, leaning up and kissing me on the lips. I pulled away after a few minutes and looked at him.

"Okay. As much as I love hearing your terrible jokes, I'm exhausted. Now go to sleep." I instructed. He laughed and did as he was told.

I sighed contentedly, then looked at him and smiled. "What are you smiling about?" He asked me.

"You're cute when you sleep." I said, copying exactly what he said earlier. He laughed lightly.

"I'm not cute." he said.

"You're right. You're down right adorable." I corrected myself. He laughed lightly, not bothering to argue with me. "I love you Jase." I said.

"I love you too Red." he replied quietly, his eyes closing. Mine did as well and we finally drifted off, his arms around my waist and mine around his neck, burying his face in my shoulder.

(ARIA POV)

Miranda and Charlie are about to leave and Jade and Jason are nowhere to be found. I've called their names multiple times but they aren't answering. I mean, the plane isn't that big. I peeked into a mostly empty room to find nobody in there. I went into a few others before deciding to double check the rooms along the main hallway. Maybe they're sleeping.

I knocked, and when I didn't get an answer I opened the door quietly, only to find them fast asleep. They were cuddled up together, breathing heavily, and looked like they weren't going to wake up anytime soon. They looked so peaceful, so calm. I smiled slightly and closed the door, walking back over to Charlie and Miranda.

"They kind of fell asleep, and I don't really want to wake them up yet." I explained.

"Oh don't wake them for us. We'll be fine. I used to be in the field remember? I'm trained and armed." she said, smiling.

I smiled back at her and then saw them out of the plane. I made sure they got in safe before turning back and going inside. I have to think about what I'm going to do from here. I could keep helping them with missions, but I have my own mission to complete. I basically dropped off the map. I know what happened exactly, I can remember it.

I was on a mission to find Thor's kids. He's been keeping them in hiding for a long time, probably Aunt Jane's doing. They're not in any immediate danger, but we have sources that say that some enemies of ours have found out about them. I have to warn them. I remember Artemis and Apollo very clearly. They're the same age as Jade. They both had blond hair and green eyes. I've visited them a couple of times.

That's why they sent me. So the kids will trust me. I hope they still remember me. If not, well Aunt Jane will remember me. They aren't even kids anymore. They're 18. 18! I mean, I can't believe I missed 18 years of my sister's life. I told myself that getting involved in her life wasn't a good idea, seeing as I could literally die any day without warning. And I didn't want her to be traumatized like that so young. I didn't even know she had been kidnapped.

Even if I haven't been in her life at all, I'm still her older sister. I still should've been there for her. I had told myself that I would go back when the time was right, but I never did. Now Eddie is the director of SHIELD, Nat has a child and a little sister, and my sister is 18!

I know she probably bears some resentment against me, but what can I do about it? Maybe after I find the twins I can spend some time with her. Who knows if she'll even want to?

I sighed lightly and decided to call a friend. "Hey Nat." I said over the phone.

"Hey Ari. How's Jason? Jade? You? Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"Everyone's fine. They fell asleep. Finally. Nobody is seriously hurt." I said, almost laughing at her sigh of relief. "Do you not trust me?"

"Of course not! You destroyed my favorite doll!" she said, bringing that up again. I rolled my eyes affectionately.

"Need you really bring that up every single conversation? We were 3!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"You still did it. You cut her hair! What did she ever do to you?" she protested. She loved that doll. She cried for a whole day.

"Oh grow up. Anyway, I need some advice." I said.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, I feel kind of guilty for not being in Jade's life at all. You know what I mean? I just- I don't know how to fix it. I can't go back in time and fix it." I said.

"Don't worry. Jade's usually pretty forgiving. As long as she knows you regret it, she'll be fine. And she will know. I mean, as long as you never try and hurt somebody she cares about, she'll care about you. You may never be as close as she and Juliana are, but you two can still get close. Just talk to her." she said.

"I know. But I feel like it's kind of douche-y for me to just come into her life right now and expect to know her when I wasn't there for her when she was younger." I said.

"Just don't act douche-y. Don't expect anything. Just say that you want to try. Be real with her." she advised.

"Okay I guess. I don't know. I'm kind of- nervous. Oh lord. Why am I nervous? I'm never I'm not a mom. BUt I get what you're saying. Thanks Nat." I said.

"Riley! Nina!" she called. "Sorry. The girls are crawling around in diapers. Give me a minute. I'll call you back." she said, hanging up. I smiled.

(JASON POV)

I woke up before Red did and glanced at her. She looked so peaceful. I smiled. Her hair had fallen out of the ponytail at some point and was everywhere, including her face. Then she woke up, looking at me groggily and then choosing to close her eyes again.

"Go back to sleep." She mumbled.

"Red, we should probably get up now." I said, moving some of her hair out of her face.

"No. Cuddle with me." She grumbled, pulling me back down next to her. I laughed lightly.

"Red, we have to go debrief Eddie." I said, getting back up and standing. She groaned before turning onto her other side and closing her eyes again.

"Come on! Or I'll tickle you." I said, grinning. She snapped up and glared at me.

"I don't like you." She grumbled.

"Nah. You love me." I said cheekily. She rolled her eyes at me and pulled her hair back into another ponytail.

"I can't believe you woke me up." she grumbled again. "I mean really. I was sleeping so well! You couldn't have let me sleep for only a few more minutes?" she asked.

"Sorry. We had to get up though. Otherwise we won't be able to sleep tonight." I said. She looked away.

"I doubt we'll get any anyway." she muttered. I sighed. She's probably right.

"Well we can try. It'll be fine. C'mon, we landed a while ago." I said. She nodded tiredly.

"I'm going to wash up. I'll be there in a few minutes." she said. I nodded and went into the living room area where Marlin was sitting on the couch.

"Hey." he said, looking at me.

"Hey. Are you okay?" I asked him. He looked at me shocked.

"How did you-"

"I can feel your emotions." I said simply. He nodded.

"I'm mostly fine. It's nothing really. I'm just worried. My niece was diagnosed with a basically fatal illness. I asked Ria if she could start looking for some possible cures, but she said it might take a while. She's only 6, and my sister is freaking out right now. She quit her job because they wouldn't give her a break so she could stay home. So she's staying with our parents now and I'm sending money home for her to help with the treatment fees. I'm just really worried about them. My sister's ex husband left her a while ago. Took most of her money and took off. So she's a single mom too. I don't know." he said. I felt a pang of sympathy.

"It'll be okay. If you want, I can ask some of my friends to help. They're geniuses. Maybe you've heard of them? Dr. Dianna Fitzsimmons and Dr. Robert Banner? And their parents? They'd be more than glad to help." I offered. He smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Jason. I wish I could do more for them. I kind of want to go back and stay with them, but I can't. I have to keep making money to send it back." he said.

"I get it. A lot of times I want to go home, but we can't not yet. We agreed to do this and nobody else will if we don't. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to do what's truly best." I said.

"Yeah." he said. Then Red walked in.

"Well, let's go." she said, leading the way. When Ria and Aria joined us she trailed back to walk next to me.

"Call Robert. They're available right now." she said, not explaining. I shrugged it off. Obviously she knows what we were talking about.

I pulled out my phone and called him. "Hey Robert. Can I ask you guys for a favor?" I asked.

"Hey Jason. What do you need?" he asked.

"Well, our friend's neice was diagnosed with a fatal illness and we need a cure. Do you think you guys could try?" I asked.

"Of course man. Just send us blood samples, stuff like that. I'll talk to Dianna and get back to you." he said.

"Okay. Thanks." I said, smiling.

"No problem." he replied. I grinned and we hung up. We walked into the Hub and got curious glances from all the other agents there.

We walked up to Eddie's office while Ria, Marlin, and Aria went somewhere else. We scanned our cards and walked inside.

"Hey Jason, Hey Jade." He said as he saw us walk in. Nat walked in almost right after us and tackled us both in a giant hug.

"Are you two okay?" she asked immediately.

"We're fine Nat." Jade said, smiling. "How are Riley and Nina?" she asked.

"Oh they're great. Nina mises her 'bubba' and Riley misses 'Aunty Jay'." she said, mimicking them. I grinned. Nina calls me 'bubba', for what reason I have no idea, but it's adorable. It's weird though. My little sister is 17 years younger than me.

"Ehem. Nat, I kind of have to debrief them, can we hang out after? My dad will kill me if he finds out. And believe me, he'll find out." Eddie said.

"Oh you're no fun." she muttered, kissing him on the cheek and leaving. I grimaced. My sister is MARRIED. MARRIED. Ugh. I like Eddie and all, but still, ew.

"You're so immature." Red whispered to me. I laughed.

"It's weird! And so- not Nat-ish." I whispered back.

"What? Being married is 'not Nat-ish?'. Please. Relationships are very not me-ish, but am I in one? Yes. In case you hadn't noticed." she said, grinning.

"EHEM. Debriefing." Eddie said, looking at us slightly confused.

"Right. Right. Okay, so when I was kidnapped, there was someone else there, Charlie Martin. When I escaped, I kind of forgot to get him out as well. He's a telepath, stronger than I am. He was brainwashed and used a weapon for Hydra. When we blew up the facility and everyone in it, he had no orders. For him, all he remembered about me was that I was the reason he was like that and decided to get revenge. So he's the guy that took over Jase's brain when we were 15. He took over Aria's brain, causing her to go to Alaska to lure us there, knowing you would send us. I wouldn't be surprised if he had controlled your mind as well at some point in this process. He took over Jase's brain in an attempt to hurt me more, but failing, as I know all of his strengths . . . and weaknesses." she said with a small smirk. I nudged her.

"That hurt you know." I informed her. She laughed.

"I do know. Anyway, then somehow he got onto the plane and we broke the brainwashing. We found his girlfriend, Agent Miranda Ramirez, and she took him home. Also, Aunt Wanda is a terrible person. I also know for a fact that she wasn't under mind control. That's a whole different story though. Not necessary information." she said.

"Okay. Anything to add Jason?" Eddie asked.

"Nope. She pretty much covered it all." I said. He looked at us weirdly.

"What aren't you two telling me?" he asked. We grinned simultaneously.

"Nothing!" we said, smirking.

"Mmkayyyyy. Well, you guys can go." he said. We laughed and walked out, before bumping into Aria, who was next to Captain Rogers.

(JADE POV)

Oh I have some words for my dad. A whole lot of words. And he knows that too. I grabbed both of their arms and dragged them elsewhere.

"Okay. Now that we aren't in any immediate danger. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Not telling me about my older half sister who happens to risk her life on a daily basis! My god. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEADS? OH THAT'S RIGHT. NOTHING." I shouted at both of them. Aria looked at me shocked.

"Calm down." she said.

"Oh calm down? You want me to calm down? What if one day you didn't make it hmm? Then what? 'Oh, by the way Jade, you have a sister we never told you about and she died.'. I will not CALM DOWN." I said.

"Jade. Relax. That's exactly why we didn't tell you. We were going to tell you when you were 14 but after everything that happened your mom and I decided it wasn't a good idea to give you anything else to worry about." my dad explained.

"Oh! That makes it all better! Everyone is worried about me! Well I don't care. Let me make my own choices!" I said.

"Jade. I'm still your dad. Regardless of what you go through, where you go, how mature you think you are, you're still just a kid. You're still my kid. And I want to keep you as safe as I possibly can. I haven't done a very good job of that, and you'd think being Captain America that would be no big deal, but it's difficult. Your mom, Aria, and I just want the best for you. Nothing else." he said.

I looked at him. "Okay. I'm sorry." I said.

"It's fine Jade. We just worry about you because we care. Everyone does." he said. I hugged him.

"I love you dad." I said. He hugged me back.

"I love you too Jade." he said. Suddenly it felt like I was 7 again. A little kid with no idea about the world and all of its terrible dangers. The little girl who was all about family, forced everyone to eat dinner together, made sure my parents were okay after missions, made them breakfast in bed on their birthdays, and was the most excited girl ever to teach her sister how to read. I miss it. I miss it a lot.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. Oh great, I'm crying. I'm CRYING. I don't do crying. Or at least that's what I tell myself. In reality I cry a lot. I kind of want everyone to be here. I want my mom and Juliana here too. My dad stayed silent, for which I was grateful. I didn't want anyone to tell me it's all going to be fine. Because it's not. It's really not.

I pulled away and wiped my eyes. "Thanks." I said. I know I've drawn myself away from them a lot, but I just want everything to go back to the way it used to be. **(A/N: Think of the lyrics from Heart Attack by Demi Lovato. "The feeling's all lost from my lungs, I'm burning I'd rather be numb, and there's no one else to blame" Sorry, it just popped it my head. AND ONLY THOSE LYRICS. The rest of the song doesn't really fit.)**

I smiled at him wryly. "Anyway, I should probably go find Jase before he eats all of the chocolate in the building." I said, remembering how there was chocolate bars in the cafeteria. I wouldn't put it past Jase to steal them all.

"Yeah, you should probably do that." he said, laughing, remembering the one time we got chocolate coins in the tower. Between the two Smith siblings all of it was gone in 5 minutes. I think that should be a record somewhere.

I walked over to find him and NAt both devouring a chocolate bar each. I grinned and sneaked up behind him, quickly grabbing the bar from his hands. He whipped around and was about to punch me before he realized who it was.

"Give it back." he said.

"How many have you had so far?" I asked him, ignoring his demand.

"You know I'm taller than you right?" he said, getting up. I telekinetically moved it up so it was almost touching the ceiling and smirked.

"Yeah, I know. So answer me. How many have you had so far?" I asked. He growled slightly.

"nine." he muttered.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Just give me my chocolate bar!" he protested.

"No."

"Red!"

"No."

"But-"

"The answer's still no." I said. He tried jumping up and would've gotten it too if I didn't move it. He groaned.

"RED! Just give me the chocolate. Please?" he asked, giving me puppy dog eyes. I rolled my eyes.

"No. You're going to be on a sugar rush for the rest of the week not to mention how badly your stomach will hurt." I told him.

"I don't care." he replied stubbornly.

"Well I do." I said simply. He glared at me lightly.

"Fine. I'm not talking to you until you give it to me." he said. I laughed and he glared harder.

"We'll see about that." I challenged, tossing it in the garbage. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"How could you?! THat was perfectly good chocolate right there!" he said, putting his hand on his heart. I rolled my eyes. Definitely on a sugar high. I glared at Nat.

"You let this happen? Are you trying to make me go insane?" I asked her. She laughed.

"Hey, who am I to stop him? I've had 18 already." she said. I rolled my eyes again and grabbed Jase's wrist, pulling him away from the cafeteria.

He looked at me with those terrible puppy dog eyes again. "I thought you loved me." he said.


	5. Artemis and Apollo Foster

**Hello friends! New chapter! A new mission will be introduced here. Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

Jase was still on a sugar high and I personally wanted to kill Nat. Slowly and painfully. Or maybe just take away all of her chocolates. I think the second option will hit her harder to be honest. I rolled my eyes as he practically bounced around me.

You would think that with the heightened metabolism and stuff, he wouldn't get sugar highs. But no. If anything, the serum only made them worse.

"Red red red red red red red red-"

"WHAT?!" I asked exasperated. He smirked.

"Am I bothering you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Just a bit." I told him sarcastically.

"What if I told you I was just trying to get on your nerves as revenge for-" I didn't let him finish, tackling him.

"Jason. Tripplet. Smith. I am going to _murder_ you." I shouted. People gave us a few concerned looks but chose to ignore it.

"Wow. I think I'm going to run now." He said, taking off. I bolted after him, and other agents almost shot us in surprise.

I jumped on his back and used that to flip him over on his back, flipping off myself so I landed on top of him. I glared.

"How dare you try and make me go insane?" I asked venomously. He grinned.

"I wasn't. I was getting revenge." He said. Yup. Definitely sugar high.

"For what?!" I asked, irritated.

"You know what you did." He said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Not really. Is this about that chocolate bar I threw away? Grow up Jase." I said.

"It's working. You're so annoyed." He said. I glared at him again.

"Yes of course I'm annoyed. Don't even get me started. I could punch you right now." I said.

"Nah. You couldn't ever." He said confidently.

"You wanna bet on that mister?" I asked him.

"I would. But I consider myself a pretty nice guy. You know, so I won't make you lose in default." He said, smirking.

"You are so full of it. You're just scared! Scared that I will punch you." I challenged.

"You wanna bet?" He asked. I smirked.

"That was kind of the point." I said. He grinned again, then sat upright and kissed me in one swift motion.

I responded almost immediately, momentarily forgetting about his irritating-ness. His arms moved around my waist and mine around his neck, kissing me passionately.

I kissed him back harder, my hands playing with the little hairs at the base of his neck. I remember the last time we were in this kind of position. It was when we came home after the triplets revealed themselves. I remember how they found us and nearly threw up. Immature if you ask me.

Then I pulled back slightly and looked at him. "I know what you're doing Jase." I said quietly, our faces still only a millimeter apart.

"I know you know." He replied, grinning. I leaned in again and we made out some more. Eventually we got up and dusted ourselves off, hoping that nobody had seen that, and walked back to find Ria and Marlin.

"I won!" Jase said excitedly, looking at me pointedly.

I punched him lightly on the arm. "Nope." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"That's not fair Red. You totally forgot about it." He said.

"You know what else isn't fair? Kissing me as a distraction." I pointed out. "So I would say we're both equally at fault here."

"So I won." He said.

"No. I won."

"I did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"What are you guys even going to win if you won the bet?" My dad asked me, appearing out of nowhere, an amused expression on his face.

"Um . . ." We said in unison. He shook his head. "Kids." He muttered, leaving with a small smile.

We blushed slightly and I could tell that Jase had calmed down slightly. SLIGHTLY. He's still not at a functioning level just yet. We resumed looking for Ria and Marlin when we saw him walking out of an office, clenching his phone, a tense expression on his face.

"Hey Marlin!" Jase called. He looked at us and walked over, the anxious expression on his face not wavering.

"Hey." he said shortly.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him. His eye twitched slightly.

"She only has a week left."" he said tensely, looking away. We both knew exactly what he meant.

"Marlin, we'll figure it out. We got our friends everything they need to figure it out, they'll have the cure ready in less than a week, I guarantee it." Jase reassured. He looked at me warily.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Jason. I appreciate the thought, but please don't get my hopes up for nothing." he said, walking away.

Right then his phone rang. He picked it up. "I knew you guys could do it! Okay. Yeah. I'll let him know. Thanks." he said, hanging up, then looking at me with a large grin.

"They got it!" he said excitedly. "MARLIN!" he called. Marlin turned his head back, and looked at us.

"They found a cure Marlin. They did it!" I said. He looked at us skeptically before smiling widely.

"Thank you so much! Oh my god! I have to tell Annie." he said, getting out his phone and calling his sister.

We smiled. "I think it's time to get back to the plane." I said, glancing at the time. He nodded and we walked back silently.

We walked onto the plane to see a note from Aria. 'I have another mission to attend to at the moment. I'll see you guys soon. I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye in person, but it just wouldn't work out.' and that's it. That's all she said.

I searched her thoughts only to find that she was still in the Hub, not only that but she wasn't even leaving any time soon. I could literally feel the disappointment and slight anger rolling off of me. I knew that she was scared. That the only reason she was never there was because she didn't want to harm me.

But now? Now there was no reason for her to do that. I had decided to give her another chance. Another opportunity to come back in my life, but I suppose that meant nothing to her. Nothing at all. Jase looked at me concerned.

"Red?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I'm fine." I lied. He rolled his eyes.

"How many times are you going to lie to me? You're not fine. I can literally feel your rage. And it's not a metaphor." he said.

"It's nothing, really." I protested, even knowing that I wasn't going to win this one.

"Oh no, it's something." he said, "Is it about Aria?" he asked quietly. I nodded slightly, not even a little surprised that he guessed so easily.

"I'm just a little- no, very- pissed that she would just take off like that. She's still in the Hub Jase. Not only that, but she's not leaving for another mission for another three hours. She's sitting and catching up with Nat right now. I get it, they're best friends, but she could've at least said goodbye in person, not to mention that she still would've had plenty of time to hang out later." I ranted.

"Maybe she's just scared." he said. I looked at him incredulously.

"Of what? What is there to be afraid of?" I demanded. He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Breath," he said calmly, "At first, she was scared of herself, now, she's scared of you. She doesn't want to get attached and then have you die. She's terrified of that. She's resisted getting close to people her whole life. I mean, she was raised in a Hydra facility until she was 10. Once she was ten, she left. The only people she let herself get close to are your dad, your mom, and Nat. That's it. just think about it. She doesn't want to lose you once she has you." he explained.

I looked at him. "How do you know? How can you tell all that?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I'm just that good I guess." he said. I rolled my eyes.

"No, but really?" I asked him.

"Well, it's kind of like I can tell their back stories from the emotions they're feeling. Like, sort of how I know when someone is scared of something, it's like that. I just kind of know." he said. I looked at him curiously.

"Have you been practicing with the fire? You almost set the bunk on fire the other night." I told him.

He sighed. "No. I haven't. I know, I know, I should be, but I don't like using it unless I have to, and even then, only in small amounts." he said.

"I know you don't like it. And you don't have to use it. Just please try and gain control over it." I said. He sighed yet again.

"I can control it, just not- not when things get to be too much." he protested weakly. Clearly he didn't believe what he was saying.

"I get it Jase. Believe me I do. I have two powers and I never wanted either of them, but here they are. And sometimes, when life gives you its worst, you have to turn it back around." I told him.

He looked at me. "But I don't want to turn it around. I don't want to accept this. I just want it to go away." he said.

"I remember you saying the exact same thing about your first power, and I said it too. Neither of us wanted these, but we have to make the best of it now. It would be strange now if I didn't have my telepathy. It would be really strange to actually be able to hear my own thoughts." I said, "I can't imagine living without it, regardless of the circumstances I gained them in." I told him.

"I guess." he relented after a while. I looked him in the eyes, searching them, trying to decipher the muddled, confusing mess of his thoughts, but it's not working.

"We should go with Ria and Marlin." I said after a while. He nodded and we walked over there.

Marlin glanced at us as we walked in, the smile still not removed from his face. "Okay guys. Director Coulson gave us our new mission. We're picking up from another agent's mission-"

"Aria's." I interrupted bitterly.

"-and we have to find Thor's children. Names are Artemis and Apollo Foster, twins, same age as you two lovebirds. They are currently under no immediate threat, but there are people looking for them. They're the heirs to Asgard, so I don't think that we should be surprised." he said.

"Did you just call us lovebirds?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes at him. He smirked.

"Yes. Indeed I did. I mean, there's a picture that was sent to every agent in SHIELD by an anonymous source." he said, pulling it up on the holographic screen. Oh my god I'm going to find whoever posted that picture and murder them.

It was a picture of us from earlier, making out on the floor, and it looked a lot worse than it actually was. Like a lot worse, mostly because I was sitting on top of Jase and it looked like his hand was under my shirt, which it WAS NOT. I would know, I was there.

"Delete it from existence." we both said at the same time. Marlin smirked.

"Nope." he said.

"Why not? Are you not good enough?" I teased him.

"Of course I am." he said.

"Then prove it Marlin. Prove it." Jase said.

"No."

"Yes." we both said in unison. "Unless of course, you're afraid that you can't do it?" I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Am not." he muttered.

"Are too." Jase countered. Suddenly I got a brilliant idea. I shoved Marlin off the chair, quickly searched his brain, and did it myself. I got up, dusted my hands off, and smirked.

"Well, looks like you'll never get to prove yourself." I said. He rolled his eyes and got up, choosing not to sit down again.

"Well anyway. We're going to talk to Dr. Foster right now."

"Wait a minute. Hold up. AUNT JANE HAS KIDS SHE NEVER TOLD US ABOUT?!" Jase asked.

"What? Do you know her personally?" Ria asked, who had been mostly silent this whole time.

"Yes. Avenger's kids remember? Uncle Thor and Aunt Jane never said that they had any children. So how is it that you, two random agents, know this before us? No offense or anything." I said.

"I don't know. I guess Director Coulson knew for a while, and Agent N. Smith knew too." Ria said.

We looked at each other. Why is Nat always keeping secrets? Jeez. "Whatever. We'll interrogate her later." Jase said.

"Anyway. Let's just go find them. This shouldn't be too difficult." I said.

I went into the cockpit to fly the plane. I haven't really flown this plane before, and I kind of want to get away for a minute.

I started up the thrusters, put on the cloaking, and lifted off. The noise was so minimal. To be honest, there are bad experiences I've had with flying qui jets, and I'm glad that at least this doesn't affect me as terribly as other things do.

Right before Jase got his power I was flying everyone home. After that, when I got kidnapped, I had been flying a plane to get away from them. I remember all of that so vividly.

It was four years ago but it seems as if it was yesterday because of the nightmares that plague my brain.

Sometimes my telepathy spins out of control as I sleep and everyone in the tower would wake up in a cold sweat, having relived my nightmares.

I never wanted any of that to happen. They never needed to see that. Especially not Juliana. She was terrified after the first time that happened. She wouldn't let me out of her sight. Which I personally thought was hilariously ironic considering how my thoughts are almost always subconsciously paying attention to her whereabouts.

Almost silently, Jason climbed in next to me. He stayed silent, leaving me in my thoughts.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He Looked totally calm, normal, if not with a giant stomach ache. His hair was messed up and everywhere, and I'm guessing he put almost no effort into taming it. I don't blame him. I put my hair in a braid and it's probably all messed up now too.

His dark eyes looked tired, and a little worried. He was smiling slightly, but not overly grinning either. We both started squinting as the sun was in front of us and nearly blinding. I shaded the cockpit window a little so it didn't kill us.

The sun was glinting in his almost black eyes, making them look almost a golden color. I was completely ignoring the plane at this point.

Suddenly the plane jerked and he leaned over quickly and fixed it, putting it on autopilot. I snapped out of it and focused ahead again, forcing myself not to blush.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He was smirking slightly. I could feel my face burning.

"I'm fine." I said. He smirked.

"Mm hmm. Maybe you should focus on the plane." he suggested. I glared at him lightly, my face still flushed.

"Shut up." I muttered. He laughed.

"I'm not saying anything wrong am I? I'm giving you some friendly advice." he said.

"Friendly advice my foot." I muttered.

"No really! I'm concerned for your wellbeing." He said, still laughing.

"Uh huh." I said, looking at him skeptically.

"Red! I mean it!" He said.

"Then stop laughing at me!" I protested. He wiped away some tears from the corners of his eyes. He's CRYING with laughter. "Jerk." I muttered.

"Aww cmon! Lighten up! It was pretty funny! You were so busy-" I clamped my hand over his mouth.

"Don't you dare." I told him. I could feel him smirking under my hand. I rolled my eyes and he moved my limb away, still holding my hand.

"It was pretty funny." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure. Uh huh. _Hilarious._ " I said sarcastically.

"You're not being very fun. First you take my cookie then you don't even laugh when you almost crash the plane. I mean, I don't blame you for getting distracted." He said, smirking.

"Well suck it up and deal." I said.

"Ugh. You're boring." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Then find something else to do." I said. He smirked again.

"Okay." He said, then crashed his lips into mine. I put the hand that he wasn't holding on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. His other hand was on my cheek, pulling me. Then we heard a cough.

"Really guys? Can you not?" Marlin asked. "The plane landed, if you hadn't noticed." he said, shaking his head before leaving. We blushed and moved away from each other. getting up and leaving the cockpit.

"So. When I told you do find something to do, that's not what I was thinking." I told Jase. He shrugged.

"You never objected." he said, smirking.

"Ugh. Whatever." I muttered. He laughed and put his arm around me. We walked out of the plane and saw the familiar modern style house. Yup, this is Aunt Jane's house. We knocked.

She opened the door and smiled broadly when she saw us. "Jason! Jade! What brings you two here? Jade, are you better now? I know that your friends called me asking for help with your sickness." she said. I smiled.

"I'm okay. Thanks. But we're here because Artemis and Apollo are apparently in danger." I said. Sudden;y two teens popped up out of nowhere. They both had Thor's blond hair and the same bright blue eyes.

Artemis looked like she was goth or something. She was wearing a black leather jacket, ripped black skinny jeans, black combat boots, black eyeliner, and dark lipstick. Her brother looked like the exact opposite, wearing a bright yellow shirt and joggers.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Apollo asked, looking like the opposite of his personality.

"Apollo! Don't be so rude. Hi, I'm Artemis, this idiot's my brother Apollo." Artemis said. She was bubbly and bright, completely contrasting with her look.

"Whatever. Just because I don't trust complete strangers who seem to know about my mom showing up at the door knowing our names and scrutinizing our every action does not make me an idiot, Arty." He said.

"Oh lighten up. Mom hugged them. It's all good, _Polo._ " Artemis said.

"Again, whatever." He said. I cracked a smile.

"He's been a grump since our friends family left to New York. Doesn't help that he has a _crush_ on her too." She said.

"I do not have a crush on Rosa." Apollo said defiantly.

"Wait Rosa? As in Rosa Hunter?" Jase asked.

"How do you know who she is?" Artemis asked curiously.

"Well, her family came to live with us. You know, in avengers tower?" Jase said.

"What?! Mom is such a liar. You told us that Aunt Tasha never had any kids, nor did anyone else!" Apollo said.

"Really mom? You didn't think we would find out? She is the exact copy of Aunt Tasha. I thought it was just coincidence but I guess not." Artemis added in.

"Well, now you know. Kids, meet Agents Jade Rogers and Jason Smith. I'm sure you can tell who their parents are. They're your age. Also, they are Nat and Aria's little siblings." Aunt Jane said.

"Hey, we didn't know about you either." I told them. They looked at me.

"Well, why are you guys here? Do you want to take us away too? Because last time they sent agents here they wanted to take us away from mom." Artemis said, her demeanor immediately changing to be more hostile.

"No no. We just want you guys to come to Avenger's Tower for a little while. With your mom. There has been a disturbance amongst the realms, and Eddie wants to make sure nothing happens to you." I explained.

"No." They said.

"Be reasonable. Your lives are at stake. Besides that, do you really think Eddie would send us here if not for dire emergency?" Jase asked.

"NO." They said again, clenching their fists. I know they have asgardian strength and can probably fly, but they've got nothing on us.

"Yes." I said calmly.

"Mom, you can't let them do this." Apollo said, glaring at us harshly.

"You guys need to understand, this was the arrangement. If ever we needed protection, Uncle Phil had arranged for us to come live in Avenger's Tower. Obviously Eddie made that call, but this was always the plan." Aunt Jane said.

"Who made this plan? Because it wasn't us. And we're not going." Artemis said stubbornly.

"Yes, you are. Okay? Your lives are in danger." I said slowly, as though they were incapable of comprehending my words.

"No. We're. Not. And it's not like you can make us." Apollo said.

"Oh I wouldn't count on that." Jase said, gritting his teeth.

"Please. We're asgardian. What are you?" Apollo asked snarling.

"Inhuman super soldiers." Jase told him.

"We'll see. If you win, we'll come wit you, if not, we stay here." Artemis said.

"Oh you're on. And I'd just like to say I'm sorry in advance. Because bones are going to be broken." I sniped back.

"Okay then." Apollo said, before the twins charged us. I looked at Jase pulled him behind me so we were back to back. He got the idea and quickly interlocked our arms before launching me up to kick both of them. They stumbled only slightly but we use that opportunity. I had Artemis and he was taking Apollo. Easy.

She came at me viciously, a sword like object in her hand. I laughed and spun it out of her hands telekinetically. She looked at me shocked for a second before heading back to the matter at hand. She punched my gut, causing me to wince while aiming another at her. Then I decided to pull another method. I accessed her thoughts and exploited that, trying to catch her off guard. I unearthed one of her darker secrets, one that I felt bad about resurfacing, but it was too late.

It was her getting forcefully taken away from her mom by SHIELD. Wrong memory to bring up. Really really really wrong. She's going to be even angrier now. Her eyes started burning in pure rage and she came at me more ferociously than before. She grabbed her sword from me and started slashing furiously. I avoided each spot she aimed for and grabbed the blade, ignoring the blood that surfaced on my palm, and pulled it away from her. Once it was away from her, I spun it around and slashed back.

She skillfully sidestepped and kicked my stomach. I grabbed her foot as it was retreating, keeping the sword aloft with my mind, and twisted her ankle. I know for a fact that she had every intention to kill me if she had to.

I glanced at Jase briefly only to see him also in a furious struggle, the two of them on equal playing ground. I looked back at Artemis a little too late, as her hand was already inches away from my face. She punched my jaw and then I punched her shoulder, probably dislocating it. I kicked my leg out under her and tripped her. She fell down and used her elbows to prop herself up. She kicked out her left leg and it hit my right knee, causing it to spike in pain. I wrenched her leg up and she used that to flip upwards.

She grabbed me in a headlock and tried to keep me from breathing, cutting off my airway. I choked, trying to get air. Jase looked at me and then his eyes darkened noticeably. Then something terrifying happened. Jase literally lit on fire. My eyes widened, partially because I was choking, partially because he was literally on fire. Artemis lightened her grip slightly and I flipped away from her before pinning her down with various knives from my suit. She struggled but couldn't get out. She glared at me but I was already next to Jase, in front of him.

"Jase. Calm down." I said, slightly afraid of touching him at the moment. I don't know if this works like our other powers, how we can't really negatively affect each other, but I'm willing to take that chance if I have to. I'll heal within a few days if anything.

He looked like he was struggling immensely, trying to get control. I grabbed his hand and nothing happened at all. Nothing. I mean, yeah, he felt like he had a fever of 110 degrees or something, but besides that my skin was not burning off. "Jase. Take deep breaths. Remember how you gained control the first time. Think of happy things. Remember when we were 12? Remember when we were at the airport." I said, trying to get him to calm down. His flames started to die down, until there were just a few embers sparking off of him.

Then I could feel Apollo coming up behind me, trying to catch me off guard. I whipped around, grabbed his wrists, twisted both, kicked him in the stomach, and glared at him.

"You can't fool me. And yeah, you're angry that I hurt your sister, but she hurt me too. And she tried to kill me. You. Can't. Win. Did you not see what just happened? Don't be rash and stupid Apollo." I hissed, before releasing his wrists. He glared at me and Aunt Jane just gaped at us.

"Are you okay?" I asked Jase. He nodded, glaring at the twins,

"Can we not take them back to the Tower?" he asked dryly.

"Nope. A deal is a deal. Unfortunately." I replied. They glared back at us.

"We don't exactly want to come back with you either." Artemis said.

"Well that's too bad. We're all going to have to try not to slit each other's throats for a day so we can take you back to the tower." Jase told them, still glaring.

"Uh huh. Good luck with that. But nobody said we won't try to kill you." Apollo said.

"Yeah okay. You won't be able to sneak up on either of us." I told him.

"Please. Stop being arrogant." Artemis said. "We'll manage."

"I'm a telepath. I was not being arrogant, I was stating facts. Now let's go." I said. Aunt Jane pulled the two of us aside.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I know this is what we planned but they might legitimately try to kill you. I don't want that. And I don't want either of you to hurt them either. Are we understood? I'm not leaving the four of you in a room together alone. If I catch any of you there together, there will be repercussions." she said sternly.

"They started it." I said.

"I don't care who started it. Don't make me call your parents." She said. I rolled my eyes and nodded. Jase looked completely out of it, as though he wasn't even paying attention.

We walked on the plane and we stopped inside our bunk. I looked at him slightly concerned.

"How are you doing?" I asked him quietly. He looked at me.

"Why would you touch the fire?" he asked in return. "You could've hurt yourself. No, I could've hurt you." he said.

"I know. But it would've healed within a few days anyway, no big deal. And even if it had affected me in any way, it still wouldn't have been your fault." I told him.

"But I lost control. I could've hurt you, or Aunt Jane, or Apollo, or Artemis. I could've burned down that entire house. I lost control Red. I hate not being in control." he said. I hate seeing him like this. Totally doubting himself and his capabilities and consumed by guilt for something that _could've_ happened. Not something that did happen.

"I know you lost control, and that's okay. You just need to figure out how to control it. It's not going to be easy, but we'll figure it out. Okay? Don't feel guilty about something that never happened. It won't ever happen, okay? You would never let yourself risk hurting someone, regardless of who. You went a month without food or drink because you didn't want to hurt anyone. That takes guts Jase. You could've gone around people and risked hurting them, but you care too much to ever do that. And everybody knows it. Why do you think I wasn't totally scared to go near you? Because I know you'd do anything for me, and I'd do anything for you. Even if it meant burning my hands to crisps." I told him. He just looked at me warily, almost disbelieving me, as though he thought I didn't mean what I said. He doubts himself too much. I hugged him tightly and he responded, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my hair.

I hadn't really realized how much taller he was than me until now. I mean, he's been taller than me since we were 10, but after I gave him some of my supersoldier serum he just grew like 5 inches. He's like 6'4 now. And I'm still 5'6. TEN WHOLE INCHES. Okay, I'm getting sidetracked. But really, I only go up to his chest, and that's it. Which makes kissing a little more difficult than it used to be, but I'm not complaining.

I could hear his thoughts running around his head. And they're not very pretty. It's like all of his instincts are immediately telling him to get away from me before he puts me in any more "danger". He's basically mentally arguing with himself.

I looked up at him. "We'll figure it out and everything will be okay." I told him. He sighed.

"I know." he said quietly. "I just- I don't want to hurt you. Ever." he said.

"You won't." I told him confidently. He looked back at me.

"I love you." he said.

"I love you too." I replied. I kissed him briefly and then we sighed and separated.

"We probably shouldn't be in here for too long." I said. He nodded and we left the room.


	6. Jane Foster

**Hi friends! Here is a new chapter! I promise you Apollo, Artemis, Jade, and Jason are going to end up getting along. If you read my other series that's in the same universe as this, The Romances of Avenger's Tower, you know that they are friends. So you know. Enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

I'm irritated. Why do we have to bring these idiots along? I mean grow up. We're not forcefully separating them from anyone they care about. If anything they'll get to see Rosa and Matthew again. So it's not that big of a deal. And Artemis tried to kill Jade. Nobody gets to hurt her. Ever.

And then I burst into flames, literally. Could this situation get any worse? Nope. This is really as bad as it gets. And it's not like I couldn't tell that Red was scared. Of course I knew. Those two better not try anything, because I don't trust myself not to strangle them if they do. I'm pissed. I'm going to have some words with Eddie when I get back.

I hate these stupid powers. I hate those stupid twins. I hate my life. I just hate it, completely and entirely. For a minute there I had forgotten about all these things that are screwed up in my life, but no. I can never forget.

I'm so angry and I know exactly why. Honestly the root to all of my problems is unknown, but it's so irritating. Nobody gets it. Not even Red gets it. I look in the mirror and don't even recognize myself. I'm covered in scars, both mentally and physically, not to mention the fact that I'm taller and more muscular than I used to be.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair tiredly. Red looked at me concerned but didn't ask. Which I was glad for. I don't really want to tell her that the entire reason I got set on fire was that she was about to die. Although she probably knows. Actually she probably just heard all of my thoughts.

We entered the room where Artemis and Apollo were sitting. I kind of wanted to punch them. But I refrained. They glared at us.

"Well? Did you need something?" They asked.

"Huh. That's funny, considering that this is _our_ plane. And you don't really belong here." Red sniped back.

"You forced us to come here." Artemis said.

"Oh shut up. We asked you to come here. Whether we used force or not was completely your call." Jade said.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "If you had never come to our home, we would never have fought in the first place."

Red narrowed her eyes. "Please. I know exactly why you didn't want to come with us. And if you think that's bad, then you have no idea."

Artemis stood up. "Right. I have no idea how terrible your life is, I mean, you have two superpowers on top of being a super soldier. Your life must be absolutely dreadful." she said dryly.

Suddenly Red was right in front of her, looking slightly murderous. "Don't you dare. You have no idea how I got those powers, much less what I've been through. I don't like you, you don't like me, just leave it at that. Don't be so immature and cocky as to believe that you know anything about me." she said, stepping away.

Apollo glared at us. "Don't talk to my sister like that." he said.

"Shut the hell up Apollo. Your sister tried to kill her." I said harshly.

"Whatever. It's not like you didn't try to burn down our house or anything in retaliation." He said.

I could feel myself heating up. I took a deep breath. "I would never burn down your house intentionally. I never meant to burst into flames in the first place. I can't control it. I would've thought you'd have noticed that." I told him.

"Right. It was just your primary instinct to kill us." He said sarcastically.

"You don't cross that line." Jade said harshly, having pinned apollo's arms behind his back and twisting slightly so it hurt, but didn't break anything. "You _never_ cross that line. Are we understood?" She hissed.

He pulled his hands away and rubbed his wrists. "Got it." He muttered.

"And _you_ don't get to hurt my brother." Artemis said, glaring. "Or I will hurt you in places you've never been hurt before."

"Please. I've been hurt everywhere." Jade replied.

"I'm sure we can find a place. I doubt you're telling the truth about your injuries anyway." She said.

I involuntarily sent a wave of anger her way and she grabbed her head in pain.

"Shut. Up." I said through gritted teeth. We all just glared at each other warily. Too angry at each other to talk civilly, but also too nervous to try anything.

I glanced over at Red who had a long deep cut that was still bleeding on her hand, and looking around, I could see her blood on everything that she had touched.

She saw me looking and just shrugged in response. Then she looked at me and gestured out. "Are you okay?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm fine."

She looked at me slightly concerned. "Well something isn't right. You haven't been acting like yourself for a while now." she told me.

"I'm really fine, okay?" I protested.

"You're really not Jase. Just tell me what's going on." she said.

"But I'm really okay." I replied, more definitely this time.

"You're not. If you don't want to tell me just say so. I won't get offended. But you can't bottle these things up." she said, equally as determined.

"I'm fine!" I said exasperatedly

"Oh c'mon. I know you better than that. A lot better than that." she replied.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. But really-"

"If you say that you are 'fine' one more time I will not be held accountable for what I do. I tell you basically everything. It's not fair for you to not tell anybody." she said.

"You want to carry an extra burden that you don't need to? Just leave it." I said.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I don't care who you tell or how you get it out, just make sure you're taking care of yourself. And your problems aren't a 'burden', Jase." she told me.

I didn't respond. "You're more stubborn than I am." she muttered, before leaving.

I thought she had actually left but then she came back a few minutes later with a phone. "It's your mom. And she called me, not the other way around." she said, handing me the phone.

I answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Jason. How are you?" She asked.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine." she replied. Red gave me a look when she 'heard' that. She's technically listening to my thoughts but that doesn't really matter.

"Why do both of you keep saying that?" I muttered exasperatedly.

"Jade?" My mom questioned. She took my silence as confirmation. "Well, I'm your mother and she's your girlfriend. I'm pretty sure we know when something is up with you. And to be honest, you're not that hard to read." she told me.

I put it on speakerphone and Red looked at me slightly confused. She can hear it anyway, what's the point? "Okay okay. Whatever. I'm fine guys." I said. Both of them scoffed and I rolled my eyes.

"Well. When you're ready to talk, you know where to find me." Red said, walking out of the room. I took the phone off speaker.

"I'm here too you know. You can always talk to me." my mom said over the phone.

I sighed. "Yeah. But how am I supposed to tell her that I can't control my powers only when it concerns her? Somebody almost killed her. And then I quite literally burst into flames. I can't just put that on her." I said.

"Jason, you don't really have a choice. Think about it this way. Nobody else is always going to be there for you except her. Anytime you lose control, she's always going to be the one to help you get it back. So you can't hide these kind of things from her." my mom said. She's always been a no nonsense kind of person.

"But I just don't want her to feel guilty, which I know she will." I said.

"Well sometimes we don't get what we want. No matter how important it is. Just tell her." she said.

That's when I realized something. I get it now. I get all of it. Why my mom seemed to despise Red for the longest time. She just said the exact same thing that Red says all the time. That things don't always happen the way we want them too. That wants are never fulfilled. My mom is scarred. A lot.

I know that much. I know sometimes, when she wakes up with a nightmare, I can feel it, mostly because my parents' room is right next to mine. She's been through a lot. I can feel a lot of things that are wrong with her. So many things that she doesn't trust anyone with her real name. Nobody except for dad.

I used to be really close with my parents. But then the little things started getting in the way, like how overprotective they were, how they let Nat do anything and everything but treated me like I would die if I left the building unsupervised. But then it became big things, like how many times my mom tried to separate Red and I, and how much dad would always take mom's side, even if mom was wrong.

And once Red got kidnapped, I had separated myself from everyone for weeks. Of course, everyone tried to get me out of there, but Nat was the only one who even got close to succeeding.

But I get it now. Mom sometimes can tell the future. Sort of like how Aunt Wanda can, except it's usually more random. An she probably knew that all of this was going to happen.

That I would end up getting these extra powers because I went in to help Red when she or her telekinesis. That I would get kidnapped and lose most of the functionality in my body because I pushed Red out of the way.

That's why she tried to separate us all those times. But what she doesn't really understand is that I don't regret any of that. I don't regret risking my life multiple times for her, nor will I ever.

"Jason?" she asked. I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Sorry. I zoned out. I'll tell her." I said.

"Okay. Be careful out there okay?" she said.

"I will." I said. We said our goodbyes and hung up.

I walked back into the room where Aunt Jane was sitting there, peacefully reading a book as the other three in the room glared at each other. . I sat next to Red who raised her eyebrows at me.

My eyes flickered over to Apollo and Artemis and she got the message. Not here, not now. We sat there for a good 20 minutes, glaring at each other intensely.

"That's it!" Aunt Jane exclaimed. We looked at her. "You four are going to get along whether you like it or not." she said. All of us scoffed.

"Not happening." we all said.

"It is happening. Artemis, Jade, go sit in the kitchen. I'm locking you in there and you two are going to talk to each other. Apollo, Jason, you will be in the dining room. And you will be communicating as well. I am going to turn on the inhibitors so no funny business. I expect you guys to be civil to each other. Have I made myself clear?" she said, using that mom voice that you know better than to argue with. Apparently everyone else had the same thoughts, because we all nodded.

"Good." she said. She locked us in our respective rooms, turned on the inhibitors and then left. I glared across at Apollo.

"Look. I don't want to be here any more than you do. So let's just sit here and ignore each other, okay?" I said.

"I'm good with that." he said.

We sat there for a few minutes before my stomach growled hungrily. He gave me a look.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked me, his tone not necessarily friendly.

"Yesterday. And it was 9 chocolate bars. So not exactly filling." I said.

"NINE chocolate bars?" he asked me in shock.

"Yes. Nine." I said. Then his stomach growled too.

"The girls get food. Not fair." I muttered.

"I know. So unfair." he muttered in response.

(JADE POV)

"You know what? I don't like you, you don't like me, we don't have to get along, let's just act civil to each other so we can leave." I said.

"Okay." she said. "So. What's your favorite color?" she asked.

"Color of my eyes." I said. "Yours?" I asked.

"Cherry red." she said.

"Favorite Food?" I asked.

"I love Cheese Ravioli." she said.

"My dad's alfredo." I said, smiling.

"Right. Your dad is Captain America, right?" she asked.

"Yup, and your dad is Thor?" I asked. She nodded.

"What's it like? I mean, living with so many people?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, sometimes people get kind of irritating, because there are some people who decide that pranking us every other day would be a great idea. But other than that, I grew up with these people. They're like family." I said.

"Oh. Most of the time we're at home with mom, and dad comes as often as he can, usually 1-2 weeks every month, and then we go to Asgard during summers with my mom too. So during the summers we're all together. We used to spend a lot of time with Rosa and Matthew. Just between us? Apollo has a giant crush on Rosa." she said, grinning.

"That's who it was! We were having a girls night. Just the girls, hanging out and eating food. And then we asked her who she liked and she just said it was some guy back here." I said, grinning as well.

"Eating food sounds good right about now." she said, looking at the fridge.

"Yeah, but I can't cook." I said.

"Me neither." she replied. We both looked crestfallen.

"You up for giving it a shot anyway? Maybe if we burn down the kitchen mom will let us out!" she said.

"Sure, but I apologize in advance if I actually burn anything down." I said. We got up and headed into the kitchen. We were about to grab some food when the plane lurched.

I grabbed my guns and knives and signalled for Artemis to get behind me. I pulled the door straight off of its hinges and headed into the cockpit. I felt my powers turn back on, so I held the knives behind me in the air as I trained my gun, opening my mind to any thoughts within the area.

Then I heard it. I sent a telepathic message to Artemis. 'They're here for you two. Go hide. I'll take care of it.' She actually listened for once and left.

I was taken my surprise with a taser gun in the back. I ignored the pain and shot behind me, hitting someone. I only hope it was the enemy. I turned only to see a tall man with tactical gear, fallen, with a bullet in his chest.

The plane lurched again so I headed into the cockpit. I got in and there were at least 30 of them.

I shot as many of them as I could before I ran out of bullets. Then I used my hands. I don't want anyone else to come over here. I used my mind to over power as many of them as I could, but it wasn't working. I could feel myself fading as my energy was all put into this. Then, when I was slightly preoccupied trying to dodge all the bullets while still playing offense, someone managed to get one past me. It hit me in the stomach and I staggered. I fought and fought as I much as I could but eventually it was too much even for me. My vision got hazy from all of the blood loss and I fell down, hitting the ground with a thud.

(JASON POV)

I woke up after being mysteriously knocked out with an icer gun to see Ria hovering over me, checking my pulse. We were in the medlab. Artemis and Apollo were in the beds next to me.

"Where's Red?" I asked. Ria looked at me startled and grimaced.

"She's across the room. She's still unconscious. She tried to take on all of them at once and was shot in the stomach. She bled out a lot. Another bullet grazed her shoulder. She'll be fine in a few days because of her advanced healing." she said.

I tried getting up but I couldn't. "You're suffering from post-paralysis. Don't try moving or you'll make it worse." she said.

"But-"

"Just stay there." Marlin said, walking over. "I just checked on her, she's alive." he said. I glowered at them.

"No." I said getting up, despite the searing pain that raced up my spine and shoulders. I moved past them and across until I got next to her. I looked at her and my heart sank a little.

Her skin was pale she had bandages wrapped around her stomach and shoulder. I could see a tiny bit of red peeking out behind the bandage and I was pissed. What even happened? All I remembered was that the plane had lurched suddenly right before Apollo and I were knocked out from behind. Then I remembered something. "Where's Aunt Jane?" I asked.

They looked at each other nervously. "She's gone." Marlin said. I groaned and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Uncle Phil? Yeah, we were ambushed. Red is unconscious and almost bled out, I can hardly move, Artemis and Apollo are both unconscious, and Aunt Jane is gone." I summarized.

"What? Okay. I want you all to stay calm. Try to get to the Hub if you can. I'm guessing they took Jane as bait for Artemis and Apollo. But why wouldn't they just take them in the first place? It doesn't matter. I'll have a large extraction team set up for her immediately. Get to the Hub and get them all, including yourself into medical." He replied tensely. "Also- Natasha!" I heard.

"Is Jade alright? How bad is it?" I heard Aunt Tasha ask over the phone.

"Well, she's not really alright. She was shot in the stomach and wasn't found until an hour after she got shot. And she has a graze wound on her shoulder. And she hasn't woken up yet. And her breathing is really really really shallow. And-"

"Calm down Jason." she said. I took a deep breath.

"Yeah, she's pretty much the opposite of alright." I said.

"I got that, thanks. We're going to meet you at the hub." she said.

"Okay. Is everyone coming?" I asked.

"Yes." she replied before hanging up. I sat down in a chair, wincing at the sudden pain.

"Can you take us to the Hub?" I asked to nobody in particular. Ria nodded and left.

"She'll be fine. She's not the first person to survive a gunshot wound. Ria gave her a dose of the GH serum." Marlin said.

I didn't respond and he sighed before leaving. Remember what I said earlier? About how that was as bad as it gets? We've reached a new all time low people.

"Apollo?" I heard Artemis ask as she woke up. She glanced around before also attempting to get up and failing.

"He's still unconscious. And apparently all three of us have post-paralysis at the moment. So don't move. It kills." I said. If it weren't for these two, Red wouldn't be in this situation right now.

"What happened to Jade then?" she asked.

"See for yourself. Press the button on the side of the bed to raise the back of it." I said. SHe did and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"This is all my fault." she said.

"No. It's you and your brother's fault." I corrected coldly.

"No, I mean, I followed her out of the kitchen, but she told me to leave and that she would take care of it, and I listened to her." she said, totally ignoring my comment. Surprisingly I didn't feel any anger at her, just something almost like irritation? But it wasn't irritation. It was more like tiredness or disappointment. I have no idea how to describe it really.

I just don't know why she would put herself through this. Why would she try to take on all of those people by herself? And why did she keep fighting once she got shot? Sometimes she just doesn't think about herself and she needs to. Because one day it'll be too much for her. Even more than this, and where will she be then, injured for months or worse, dead.

"That's not your fault. You were scared, she sent a message into your brain which you didn't know was possible, and told you to leave. I would've too." I said. Then Apollo stirred.

"Ugh. Why can't I move? Artemis, are you okay?" he asked.

"Post-paralysis. Don't move." I said shortly.

"I'm right here Apollo." Artemis said.

Then I heard Red moving next to me. I looked at her to see her eyes opening. Then she groaned and tried to move. "Don't move. You were shot in the stomach and shoulder." I said. She winced and stopped.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at me concerned.

"I'm fine. Worry about yourself right now." I said. She grimaced.

"Right. Did Ria say how long until I can move again?" she asked.

"A few days I think. Marlin said they gave you GH serum so you would heal faster. But even then, we don't know if you're actually completely inhuman or what kind of effects it would have on you if you aren't." I said.

"You worry too much. I'll be fine." she said, smiling a little. I rolled my eyes.

"I think that I have the right to be worried. You were shot twice, and if that wouldn't have killed you, you kept fighting, allowing yourself to bleed out to the point where you went unconscious and if they had found you any later you would've died. So yeah, I don't worry too much." I said. She grimaced and then her eyes widened.

"Where's Aunt Jane?" she asked.

"They took her. We were all unconscious. They didn't know about Marlin and Ria being on board with us so they didn't get the twins, but they got her as bait."

"WHAT?!" came the outraged cry from the siblings in question.

"Uncle Phil is sending a team after her. They've probably already left. We're going to the Hub because none of us are in fighting condition at the moment." I said, tired of explaining things.

"This is all my fault." Red muttered. I looked at her.

"Red, it's not your fault. You did everything you could." I said.

"But I should've been paying more attention, then I wouldn't have gotten shot and then Aunt Jane would still be here." she said.

"C'mon, be realistic. There were 50 of them against you." I said.

"32. There were 32. And I've taken 40 at once before. I should've been able to do that." she said.

"Jade, you did everything you could've done. You saved our lives. They could've taken all three of us." Artemis said. Apollo muttered something and Artemis slapped him on the arm, hard.

"They'll find her. And she'll be okay. We'll all be okay." I whispered to her. She nodded slightly.

"By the way? How do you expect me to manage not walking for a few days? I barely managed one morning." she said. I smiled.

"You'll live. Ria wanted to give you a wheel chair." I said, smirking.

"Oh _hell_ no. I am not sitting in a wheel chair." she said defiantly.

"But it's a lot easier than trying to walk." I told her.

"I don't care. You never had to use a wheel chair! And your condition was a lot worse than mine." she pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not up to me. Or you." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. There is absolutely no way I'm sitting in a wheel chair." she said stubbornly. I smiled.

"Guys we've landed." Ria said, bringing in a wheel chair.

"I'm not sitting in that." Red said defiantly.

"You have to."

"No."

"Jade, you will sit in the chair."

"Ria, I will not sit in the chair."

"Why not?" Ria asked exasperated.

"NOT HAPPENING." Red said, attempting to get up. She managed to do it and in the process the blanket that was on her slipped off. She looked down and flinched. She was wearing her bra and then the bandages covered up most of her stomach, but a lot of her scars were still showing.

"Shoot." she muttered. Everyone had looked away, seemingly interested in their hands. She looked at her shirt, but it was on the side of her bad arm. I handed it to her and helped her get it on and by that point she was blushing intensely.

"Most awkward situation I've ever been in." she muttered to me. I laughed.

"So are you going to sit in the wheel chair now?" I asked her.

"Nope. I told you all. It's not happening." she said. I figured there was no point in arguing with her and I helped her stand up. There was nothing wrong with her legs, she's just really weak from losing so much blood.

"Guys, that's really not a good idea." Ria said.

"I'm not sitting in a wheelchair." Red refused. I just gave Ria a look. She shook her head.

"You two are going to end up dead one day, you're so stubborn." she said. The three of us had regained our movement for the most part and we walked inside.

Red's shirt still had dried blood on it from earlier, as it was the closest shirt to her at the moment, and so when her parents saw that they freaked out.

"Didn't you get it treated?!" Juliana asked.

"I did Ana. Don't worry." Red replied, wincing slightly. "I just needed a shirt and this was closest." she explained.

"Why are you walking?" Aunt Tasha asked her. "Actually never mind." she muttered, seeing the panicked look on Ria's face.

"I will never sit in a wheelchair." Jade said determined to live by that statement.  
"Whatever. You have to get to the medical center. NOW." Dianna said, pushing aside everyone else. "You're Ria right? Okay, can you go get the area prepped for her? Thank you." she told Ria.

"Alright, now everyone else, clear out. I want no distubances. I'm going to run a few scans, make sure she'll actually be okay and that the GH won't do anything negative to her system. We don't know the extent of her inhuman biology." Dianna ordered.

"Di, I'll be fine." Jade protested.

"No doctor told you that. Now don't argue with me and get your butt into the medical area." Dianna replied briskly.

"Okay okay. Going. Jeez." Red muttered.

"Don't strain yourself." Dianna said.

"Di?"

"Yes Jade?"

"please stop." Red said, trying to walk. I helped her out a little bit.

"This is so annoying." she muttered.

"Really? You're not in pain or anything, just annoyed?" I asked her.

"Yes. I mean, I'm in pain, but this whole situation is just one giant nuisance." she said.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

"I mean, other than the fact that my stomach feels like it's on fire and my shoulder feels like it's going to fall off, I'm good." she said.

"I'm serious. Are you really okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah Jase. I'm okay. It does hurt, I won't lie, but I'm okay." she said.

(JADE POV)

He thinks it's his fault. I can see it in his eyes. And I wish he didn't. Because it's not his fault. Not at all.

He got knocked out when he wasn't suspecting it. Me on the other hand, I could've fought harder, done _something_ to stop them. But I failed. I tried hard but not hard enough. I pushed myself far but still not far enough. Aunt Jane is gone because of me. And now, I can't even do anything to get her back. I lost a lot of blood. Too much blood from what I picked up from Ria's brain. I would've died if they had found me even two minutes later.

This is all my fault. All of it. Every last bit of the blame falls on my shoulders. And it isn't right that he's taking blame for something that wasn't his fault.

"It really wasn't your fault you know." he said quietly, looking at me.

"It wasn't yours either." I replied.

"Yeah it was. I shouldn't have let my guard down so much." he said, looking away.

"So what if you had. At that moment, both of our worst problems were dealing with the twins. So it's no wonder you weren't on the lookout for some alien invaders." I told him.

"Red, I don't think you understand. You almost _died_. You could not be alive right now. And you were, it would be my fault. All of it." he said.

"I do understand. But look at me. I'm alive. What did I tell you earlier? We always come out alive. Alive and together and that's all that matters." I said. "Jase? Look at me." I told him. He did so reluctantly. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." I leaned up slightly and kissed him briefly before Dianna came over and rushed us into a room.


	7. Free time

**Hi guys! I know I know, so much stuff is happening back and forth! But I'm excited about it. By the way, are any of you fans of The Flash? I am in love. The last episode KILLED ME. I'm thinking to write a one-shot but I'm not sure. Let me know if you would like to see that! Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

I let Di run her tests and only hoped that nothing else was wrong with me. Jase was sitting next to me on a chair and he looked exhausted, and apparently he's starving. I cracked a small smile.

"Hey Jase? You can go get some food if you want." I told him. He looked at me unsurely.

"I'll live." He decided. I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing's going to happen to me in the next ten minutes. My family is probably piled outside the door and everyone else is within close range, not to mention that Dianna and Elliot are both here." I reassured.

"If you say so." He muttered, getting up and leaving.

"You two are cute." Dianna said to me after he left. I blushed.

"Whatever." I muttered.

"Nah she's right. Absolutely adorable." Elliot teased. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Since when do you find things adorable?" I sniped back.

"Since you and him got together." he replied, an amused grin on his face.

"Alright alright. Quit your bickering. I have a final scan to run. Then I'll have to find someone to give you some blood. You lost a lot. More than is healthy. In other cases, the blood would just replenish itself, and it has mostly, but you need a little more. See, the problem isn't your blood type, it's that we need your blood type plus inhuman DNA plus super soldier serum." she said, trying to figure it out.

"I fit all of those requirements." Jase said as he walked back in the room.

Dianna looked at him before literally slapping her forehead with her palm. "Duh!" she said, and it sounded strange with her accent.

"Thanks." I said, smiling slightly. My shoulder is acting up again and it feels like I'm being stabbed there repeatedly.

"Okay. We're going to have to get everything together, and you need some time before we can transfer blood, so feel free to do anything that doesn't involve movement." She instructed.

"Oh that leaves so many options available." I muttered sarcastically.

"Stop pouting, Jade. You'll be able to walk and everything soon." she told me. I groaned.

"Yes mom." I joked. She rolled her eyes and she and Elliot left the room.

"I'm exhausted." Jase and I said at the same time.

"I'm going to sleep." I said. He nodded and I laid back quickly, hissing in pain. He looked at me concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good. It just hurts to move." I muttered. He gave me one last look before I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

(JULIANA POV)

Mom, Dad and I walked into the med room together, and when we came in there we smiled slightly. Jade had fallen asleep on the hospital bed, her arms slightly shielding her stomach. Jason wasn't asleep, but he looked really tired, and was texting somebody something. "Hey." I greeted. He looked up.

"Hey." he replied. My parents gave each other those parent glances that are practically indecipherable.

"Jason, you should sleep too." Mom said. He shrugged.

"I'm okay." He said.

"No offense, but you don't really look okay." Dad said. Jason sighed.

"I'm fine. I promise I'll sleep later." he said. They dropped it after that and looked at Jade. She still had on that bloody shirt from earlier. A massive blood spot was on her stomach and it looked gruesome and nasty.

"Steve, Jason, could you two leave for a second?" Mom asked them. They looked at her confused. "I'm just going to change Jades shirt real quick." she explained. Jason had blushed slightly but they both left.

"Mom, you do realize that Jason has seen Jade without a shirt on multiple times, right?" I asked her.

She scowled. "Too bad." She said.

"Probably more times than you have." I added in. I know it makes her uncomfortable, no matter how much she teases Jade and me about it. She glared at me.

"Juliana Rogers. Cut it out." she said. I laughed.

"Mmmkay. Do you need help?" I asked. She nodded.

We got the bloody shirt off of her and I could see mom's facial expression change ever so slightly at seeing all the scars. Every single one of them was like a painful reminder that she couldn't protect her well enough.

She quickly put the new shirt on her and told dad and Jason that they could come back in. At that time, Dianna had come back in with Robert and a cart of supplies.

"Hello everyone. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. You can come back in a few minutes." Dianna said.

We filed out of the room.

(JADE POV)

I woke up to see Dianna hovering over me. "All done." She said, then saw that I was awake. "Perfect timing too." She said happily.

"You're done?" I asked sleepily. I looked at Jase who had apparently not gotten any sleep. "And you didn't get any sleep? You need to." I told him as Dianna and Robert left.

"I know. I will." he said.

"Jase. It's not your fault. Okay? You don't have to keep an eye on me constantly. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you wake up, okay?" I told him gently.

He looked at me. "You can't guarantee that." he said. I smiled slightly.

"I will Jase. Trust me. Just go to sleep. You can't be afraid of looking away forever." I said.

"I know. I tried going to sleep. Didn't work." he said.

"Then come lie here next to me." I said. He looked at me.

"I don't want to hurt you. You have two bullet wounds remember?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I remember. But you won't. I can barely feel them right now. It'll be fine. And don't worry about Di. She'll yell at us but it's not like she can do anything. And besides, she understands." I said.

He sighed. "It's no use arguing with you, is it?" he asked.

"Nope. None at all." I said.

"Fine." He muttered.

"Stop being grumpy. It's not like you have any objections." I told him.

"Fine." he finally said. I scooted over, making room for him. He laid down next to me and I smiled a little. Then I realized something.

"Who changed my shirt." he laughed lightly.

"I think your mom did it while you were sleeping. She made me and your dad leave the room." he said, an amused smile on his face.

"She's in denial. I mean, she's caught us twice already." I said, smiling ironically.

"I know. I think Juliana got that too, because she was trying really hard not to laugh." he said.

"Great, We scarred my little sister too." I said sarcastically.

"Oh no I don't think we did. I'm pretty sure she and Jack have done it too." he told me.

"Oh god. She's not supposed to be doing these kind of things with boys." I muttered.

"Yeah, Nat is still under the impression that I'm 5." he said.

"I know. I think my dad is still stuck in 40s mentality." I said, laughing.

"That's not such a terrible thing is it?" he asked me.

"Oh you have no idea." I said. He laughed.

"I still can't believe Nat is engaged." he said. I smirked.

"What? Does the idea gross you out?" I asked him. "You realize your parents are married too right?" I said.

"Yeah, but she's Nat. She's not supposed to be getting married or any of that." he said. "She used to always say that she was never getting married." he said.

"I think being in love does something strange to a person." I said, looking at him.

"I don't know. I don't act different then I used to, do I?" he asked, looking at me.

"I guess not. You're still the same Jase I've always known." I said, smiling. He leaned down and kissed me. We made out for a few minutes before I pulled away and looked at him sternly.

"You are going to sleep. Now." I told him. He laughed.

"Fine. Fine." he said, smiling. He cuddled closer to me and I smiled slightly.

"Hopefully Di doesn't yell at us. She's terrifying." I muttered. He peeked up at me through one eye.

"Please, she won't do anything." He said, and when I gave him a look he closed his eye again and deepened his breathing, pretending to be asleep. I laughed and he covered my mouth, which made me laugh even harder. And then my stomach started hurting.

"Oh god. Stop. Don't be funny." I groaned. He looked at me concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Laughing hurts." I muttered. His lips twitched amusedly. "Stop laughing at me." I told him. He then looked at me.

"Tell me if it hurts too much. I'll call Dianna." he said.

"Relax! I'll be fine." I told him. "Just go to sleep. You look terrible."

He stuck his tongue out at me. "Fine. I'll actually go to sleep now. But-"

"Ah!"

"Red-"

"Ah! No talking!" I said. He groaned.

"Fine fine. I'll tell you later." He said, his eyes actually closing this time. I ran a hand through his hair. I find his hair so interesting. It's not light blond. It looks like it's almost dyed blond. It's brown at the roots but I remember when we were younger it wasn't like that, it was pure blond. And also, when he doesn't shave for a while, his facial hair comes in brown as well. But the top of it is still blond.

I swear he usually takes longer doing his hair than I do with mine. I just throw it in a ponytail most days, or just brush it and leave it open, but him? Nope. He has to style it. And then he gets all fussy when I try and touch it.

Boys are whiny. When the girls and I hang out without our boyfriends, these are the things we discuss. Like how Sarah and Johnny spend almost all of their time in the shooting range. And how Jack and Juliana were never expected to get together. Ever. We all expected them to find somebody at school they liked and get with them but I guess not.

I suppose I approve. Jack is okay. I don't know, I just don't ever want to see her get hurt. Not that I think Jack would hurt her, but I'm just a generally really overprotective big sister.

I smiled slightly at Jason's sleeping face. I wasn't kidding earlier, he is adorable when he sleeps. Sometimes, when I'm not attempting to value every bit of sleep I can get, I would just watch him sleep. I know, that sounds so creepy.

But he's my boyfriend. I can do these things without them being stalker-ish. And I mean, how could I not stare at him?

He's hot, okay? I will not admit it to his face, but he's pretty damn hot. I mean, look at those abs. And yes. I pay attention to these things. I'm a teenage girl. Stop judging.

It really bothered me when those irritating girls at school used to practically drool over him. Call me jealous. I don't care, it's not like he gives any of them any attention at all. In fact, he's so oblivious it's funny. He has no idea when somebody is flirting with him. And honestly, I'm not the jealous type. It just that there's a whole lot more to him than his looks.

I remember him laughing at me when I glared at them, not understanding why. I also remember that life used to be easier. Everyone liked us for the most part, even those guys from gym class. Allen, Brian, and Lenny. They're pretty okay.

But then there were things like our extended absences that made people spread rumors. But honestly, rumors at school were the least of our problems.

I sighed and realized that I had kept messing with his hair as he slept. I smiled a little and brushed some of it out of his eyes.

I find it strange that some people call their significant others "pet names". I'm not against it or anything, it's just strange. I'm Red and he's Jase, and that's just the way it always has been and always will be.

And that high school fakeness, the "I Love you"s and the "forever and always"s kill me because they know they're about to break up in a month. And not all of them are like that. But most of them are. They think they love each other when in reality they have no idea what love is. None at all. Love is being willing to do anything for that person.

Love is caring so much it hurts sometimes. Loving someone is having your difference but accepting them as a part of who that person is. And I think that Jase and I meet all of those requirements.

I've been sitting here thinking for an hour now. I was about to close my eyes, because I should get as much sleep as possible before I lose the opportunity, when Di walked back in.

"Jade!" she half whispered half yelled upon seeing Jason asleep next to me.

"He refused to sleep. So I forced him to. Relax." I whispered.

"You're infuriating. Anyway, you are free to go walk around now. You'll be in minor pain but you won't be so weak anymore."

I nodded and smiled in thanks and she smiled back before leaving the room. I linked my fingers lightly with Jason's and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift off.

(LATER)

When I woke up Jase was gone and Nat was sitting in a chair, texting somebody. SHe looked up when she noticed I was awake.

"Hey Jade." she said.

"Hey Nat. What are you doing here?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I came to find Jason. I figured he would be in here with you. He just went to get us all food. I think he's bringing chocolate. He's probably bringing chocolate." she said grinning. I rolled my eyes.

"Sometimes I really hate you. Do you know how irritating it is when your boyfriend is on a sugar-high? Actually, I should talk to Eddie about this. I'm sure he knows exactly what I'm talking about. I can't get a moment of peace. He's jittery and over excited and when he's finally back to normal he crashes somewhere random and drags me with him and- I hate you." I finished. She laughed.

"Whatever. You love me. I'm your future sister-in-law remember? Wait a minute! That makes Ari and I related through marriage!" she said excitedly. My eyes hardened at the mention of Aria.

"Oh. Right. You know she didn't mean anything offensive, right? She thought she had to leave, but her mission was postponed." Nat said.

"Oh is that the story she told you? Because that never happened." I said irritated, not at Nat, but at Aria for being so annoying.

"Jade, why would she lie to me?" she asked.

"I don't know. She doesn't care? Doesn't like me? I don't really know. Nor do I really care." I told her.

"No. You care." Nat replied, looking at me oddly. "You feel betrayed by her, don't you? Listen, one thing you have to understand about Aria is that she runs away. If she doesn't know how to handle something she forgets about it, pushes it away until it's absolutely necessary."

"So she's a coward." I summed up. She sighed frustratedly.

"No Jade." she tought for a minute. "Okay, think about it this way. You were raised as a science experiment, you never had any parents, and you were raised to never have any emotions whatsoever, nor did anything incite emotion. Then you find people who are like parents to you, only to realize that you're being 'replaced' by a new baby. Again, you don't know how to deal with emotions, and you have no idea that those feelings are normal. As a result of the guilt, you run. And that just becomes the pattern of your life." She explained.

"So it's my fault now." I said dryly. She groaned.

"Can you please just try to have an open mind and stop being so grumpy and irritable?" she snapped. I was slightly surprised but didn't let it show. I opened my mouth to respond but right at that moment Jason walked back in the room.

"Not okay Nat." he said, giving her a look. She rolled her eyes.

"Please. Jade is being unreasonable." she said.

"'Jade' is still here you know." I sniped back.

"See?" Nat said to Jase. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever this is about, can we all just resolve this over some chocolate and coffee?" he asked tiredly.

"Oh no. There is no way that you are going to have caffeine and sugar at the same time." I said, slightly alarmed. He laughed.

"I'm kidding. There's no coffee. Just chocolate." he told me, sitting down next to me.

"I have to go. I'll see you guys later." Nat said, getting up and leaving.

"So why exactly did she call you grumpy and irritable?" Jase asked me.

"Aria." I said, rolling my eyes. He looked at me.

"I don't know. Maybe she has her reasons and we just don't understand them." he said. I sighed.

"How do you do it?" I asked him. He looked at me confused.

"Do what?"

"Always . . . care. You always care about everyone. All the time. Even if they're the mosrt annoying person in the world, you can always manage to be nice to them." I said. He shrugged.

"I didn't know I did that until now." he said.

"Well now you know." I said, smiling. He then glanced down at my hand then back at me.

"Your hand still never got treated." he told me. I shrugged.

"I think everyone had bigger things to worry about. And we still do." I said.

"It's not like we can do anything right now. Let me take care of it." he said, taking my hand and looking at it. It was covered in dried blood and there was a definite line where the blade had dug into my palm.

He looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Red, you can't just walk around like this. It could get infected or something. You need to take care of yourself too you know." He told me.

"I know." I said quietly. He searched the cabinets until he found the bandages and stuff.

"This is going to sting." He said, cleaning off all of the dried blood with the rubbing alcohol. I hissed in pain slightly. Then he put the cream on it, then bandaged it up. I smiled at him.

"Thanks Jase." I said. Then I sighed. "Is it weird that I really want to hug you right now?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't think so. I would want to hug me too." He said, grinning.

"You are such a doofus." I muttered. He laughed and carefully wrapped his arms around my waist, avoiding my stomach. I hugged him back. And I felt the strangest urge to kiss him too. Something must be wrong with me.

I blame it on adolescent hormones. I didn't fight it though, and just went with it because why not? I kissed him on the lips and he responded, pulling me closer.

Somehow we ended up as close as we could possibly get to each other, kissing passionately. Our legs were tangled, one of his and mine dangling off the side of the bed. My hands were on his back and his were on my waist. I shut the door telekinetically and we continued doing what we were doing.

(JULIANA POV)

I was talking to Jack calmly until I saw Jade's door shut. She was supposed to be out of there by now. I knocked and when nobody answered, I opened the door only to be scarred for the rest of my life, yet again, by my sister. I shut the door quickly and Jack gave me a curious look.

"What- you know what? I don't want to know." He decided.

"Good choice." I muttered. He looked at me oddly.

"So how many times have you caught them doing stuff?" He asked, kind of amused.

"At least 10 times. Whatever. Jade caught us once you know." I said.

He blanched. "She what? Oh my god she's going to kill me." He said.

"Nah. She laughed. And told me that if you hurt me you'll die. But she was laughing which means that she won't kill you, just torture you slowly and painfully." I informed him, just to make him freaked out. I'm a great girlfriend aren't I?

"You're not helping Ana." He said, even paler than I thought was possible.

"Yeah. But you won't hurt me, so there is nothing to worry about." I said. He calmed down slightly.

"Okay. You just made that all up, didn't you?" he asked me.

I laughed. "Maybe." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"I hate you sometimes." He told me.

I smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "No you don't. You love me." I said. He rolled his eyes again.

"Whatever you say Ana." He said. I laughed.

"I know that you do." I teased. He kissed my cheek.

"Maybe." he said. I grinned.

"You're such a liar." I told him.

"It's not lying. I said maybe. So that could mean that I do." he pointed out.

I smirked. "So you admit it!" I said triumphantly. He laughed.

"Fine! I admit it! Happy now?" He asked.

"Very." I replied.

"Cheesy. So cheesy." He said, shaking his head.

"Did you know that cheese is my favorite food?" I asked, grinning.

"No, I didn't. I always thought you hated it." He said, playing along.

"Well, I only like certain types of cheese." I clarified. He grinned.

Then he did something I wasn't expecting. He literally swept me off my feet, no LITERALLY, then pressed his lips to mine.

"Do you like that kind of cheese?" He asked me.

"Oh, that's my favorite." I said, leaning up and kissing him again.

"Awwwwww. They're cute." I heard my sister say from behind us. I forgot we were in a hallway.

We looked at her and Jason and blushed.

"They're blushing. How adorable. By the way, that was soooo cheesy. That was like straight out of a romance novel or something." She teased. I glared at her.

"You're embarrassing." I told her.

"That's my job!" She said happily. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I could embarrass you too." I said. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." I replied, feeling particularly daring today.

"Oh you're on. Whoever can embarrass the other more wins." She said.

"It won't be much of a contest." I said.

"You're right. I'll beat you overwhelmingly." she replied.

"You two are ridiculous." Jack said.

"Really. You are both going to be embarrassed by this, so why don't you just not?" Jason agreed. My sister and I both turned on them.

"We are not ridiculous." We said. They just gave each other looks.

"No. You're pretty ridiculous." Jason said. My sister slapped him lightly on the arm.

"You're supposed to me on my side!" She protested. He laughed.

"Red, you are being ridiculous. Maybe Di gave you too much medication." He said. I thought that he was going to get it, but instead she just smirked.

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine. She gave me my normal dose. Which is like 5 pills." she said.

"She gave you 7." Jason informed her.

"Then there might be something wrong." Jade said.

"Yeah, just maybe. Let's go talk to Ria. And Eddie wanted to talk to us. And your parents wanted to talk to you as well." He said. She groaned.

"I know I'm popular, but really people! Give me a break!" she exclaimed. I laughed. She's acting like a lunatic. I guess this is what being high looks like.

"Mmkay Red. Let's just go." Jason said, looking highly amused.

They left and I sighed. "Well. That was interesting." I muttered.

(JADE POV)

I'm really hyper. I tidied up and all that and I feel wide awake and happy. I grinned.

"Hi mom! Hi dad!" I said. They gave me an odd look and looked at Jason.

"What happened to her? She hasn't been this hyper in years." My dad asked.

"I think Dianna may have given her too much medication." He said.

"You're so silly! I feel fine." I said.

"What is wrong with her? She's not okay." Mom said.

"Mommy, I'm right here, don't talk about me as if I'm not." I said. She ignored me.

"She wasn't acting like this a little while ago." Jason told them.

"Yeah, we were-" Jase clamped his hand over my mouth.

"Nothing! We were doing nothing!" He said hastily. "Is this what I act like when I have too much chocolate? She sounds like she's drunk." Jase said.

"That's not very nice Jase." I told him. He rolled his eyes.

"Hey Ria! Do you have minute?" Jase asked her. She came over and took one look at me before determining that I had too much.

"Too many meds. Give her some sedative and she'll be back to normal. Here, take this." She ordered, pulling something out of her bag. I took it and instantly felt back to normal.

"So. What exactly were you two doing?" My dad asked us, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh- um nothing." I said, glaring slightly at Jase who had moved behind me.

"Mmhmm. Okay, well, it was clearly something, since Jason so subtly made you stop talking." Mom told me. Jase was completely behind me, crouching down to hide from my parents. I kicked his leg lightly. He's not helping the situation.

"Fine. We were having deep meaningful conversations about life." I said.

"You two, alone in a room, together, with the door shut, we're having deep conversations about life?" My dad asked incredulously.

"I'm 18 dad! Ugh this is awkward, and embarrassing, and not ideal in any way." I muttered.

"Jade. You had a bullet in your stomach." My mom reminded me. I pulled up my shirt slightly.

"Look! It's better. All good. Healed. Closed up. Slightly sore, but that's it." I said, fixing my shirt again. "And by the way, changing my shirt in my sleep? Talk about creepy." I said.

"I made all of the males leave the room. It's not that terrible." My mom said.

"You do remember what we were talking about like a minute ago, right?" I said.

"Mmhmm. Okay. Well, we have work to do." Dad said, and then they left.

"What were you doing?!" I asked Jase after they left.

"Trying not to be murdered." He said bluntly.

"Please, they won't murder you yet. Give it about a year, when I get pregnant, then they're going to kill you." I told him.

"Oh wow. That helps." He muttered.

"No. It doesn't." I corrected. "But don't worry. I won't let them kill you." I said.

"Gee thanks." He said sarcastically. I laughed.

"Any time Jase, any time at all." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Love you too." he grumbled.

"You're so grumpy." I told him.

"Your parents nearly murdered me with just their eyes!" He said.

"Whatever, lighten up! Your mom has almost killed me with her eyes hundreds of times." I said cheerfully.

"I'm not sure that sedative worked properly." He said.

"Oh it did. I'm just trying to get on your nerves." I replied.

"Really Red, really? Why?"

"Revenge, my dear, revenge." I said, grinning. He groaned.

"What? Revenge for what?" He asked me confused.

"Do you have any idea what you're like when you have too much sugar? You're like a bouncing, crazy, maniac that cannot control himself and only wants to irritate me in as many ways as possible!" I exaggerated.

"Okay, that's a lie." He protested.

"Mmhmm. Not really. But it's okay. I won't get my revenge today. But just because I love you. No other reason." I said, relenting.

He sighed in relief. "Thank you." He said. I laughed.

"Aww I'm not that bad." I replied. He gave me a look.

"No, you really are." He said.

"C'mon Jase! Lighten up! You've been in a bad mood all day." I said.

He stayed silent. "I will tickle you if I have to." I threatened.

"No thanks!" He said, bolting away. I chased him quickly, and it was a fun race, at least until I caught up to him.

He was smiling brightly, so I decided not to tickle him. "Eddie needed to see us." he said, pointing to the office next to us.

"Okay." I said. We walked in only to see Aria there. As soon as she saw us, she left the room, not allowing us to say anything.

I rolled my eyes. "You needed us?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. Apollo and Artemis left to go find their mom. They took the bait. And we need you two to go after them." he said. We looked at each other grimly. This isn't going to end well, I can feel it.

"Okay. We're on it." Jase told him, and then we walked out and headed back to the plane.


	8. Going Solo

**Hi! So I'm really sorry or the long wait. But on the bright side, I have the next two chapters mostly done, I just have to add in some more detail. So those will be up within the next few days. The next chapter was around 10,000 words so I'm splitting it into two. I'm going to be adding in a lot of angst, and a serious plot twist that you'll either love or hate, in the chapter after all of this Artemis and Apollo stuff is over. So I hope you enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

I glanced over at Red who was insanely anxious and nervous and I'm slightly worried about her. But we don't have time for that, because now we're right next to the quinjet that Artemis and Apollo were on.

Marlin opened up a communication line through their plane and we looked at them. "Artemis! Apollo! You need to stop! There are other SHIELD agents already getting your mom. They are trying to draw you in. To bait you. They haven't hurt her." Jade said through the line. They looked at us.

"You don't know that." Apollo said.

"Yeah, I do. Also, do you have a plan once you get there? Just give yourselves up in place of your mom? Not going to work. They were hoping for that, so they can keep your mom as leverage against you." Red told them.

"We'll figure something out." Artemis said.

"No, you won't. Listen to me. These people are very dangerous. There are a lot of them and they are all highly skilled. They managed to shoot me twice. Don't try to do the impossible." she said.

"Then what do we do Jade? She's our mom! We can't just leave her there." Apollo protested.

"I'll go then. You guys don't have to do this. And besides, I think I owe a certain somebody two bullets." she said. I looked at her.

"What? You can't! You literally just healed from the other two bullets. What if there are more bullets? I'm coming with you." I said.

"Okay. I'm okay with that. But Artemis, Apollo-"

"No way are we letting you two go in there alone. We're coming too." Artemis said, cutting off Red.

I gave them calculating looks before nodding. "Fine. You can handle yourselves. Marlin, Ria?"

"Comms, got it. We've got enhanced weaponry in the cargo bay. Can you two dock your jet on the plane and come down here? I'm setting course for where your mom is now." Marlin said.

"Hurry. I've got some things for you guys too. I formulated these to shoot out bullets that will paralyse the receiver and are soundproof, so no matter what they will be soundless." Ria said, pulling out a briefcase filled with guns neatly lined up.

"Okay. Thanks." I said.

"We're here. Let's go get our mom back." Apollo said, standing next to Artemis. We geared up and walked off the plane into a deserted beach. There was nothing there.

"Red, do you know how to get into there?" I asked.

"No. She was blindfolded. Sound of glass . . . Jase, I need you to try and use your fire. Just in the sand. It'll turn into glass, and then an entryway should appear." she said.

"I'm not sure I can control it." I said unsurely. She looked at me, any trace of nervousness gone entirely.

"Well I know that you can." she said. I nodded and took a deep breath before shooting flames out of my hand and into the sand. The grains crystallized and became pure, clear glass. It looked beautiful, but also very jagged and rough at the edges.

At the end was a hole where the sand had been held up by some invisible barrier. I broke the glass with one kick and the four of us entered warily.

We went in a few feet before a voice came in from the ceiling and guns pointed at us.

"Identify yourselves." It was a robotic voice, a lot like JARVIS used to be before his upgrades. It's an AI. Red quickly neutralized that problem, hacking into it with her brain and we moved on.

We took a few steps before Artemis told us to stop. She flew up to the ceiling, dismantled a sensor that was attached to the corner of the wall and came back, signaling that it was okay to walk.

Then there was a loud alarm ringing across the hall. "Shoot." I muttered.

"Shh. Wait. Do not move a muscle." Red said quietly. "It's a decoy. They ring the alarm every 45 minutes so that any intruders will think that they can ignore the other silent alarm."

"How did you know that?" Apollo whispered.

"Mind reading." Red whispered back.

"Get down!" I told them as I saw arrows getting ready to be launched from the wall at least 500 feet away.

The arrows buzzed over our heads and we sighed in relief before continuing onward. We walked into the nearest room, quietly, only to find it completely empty.

The next room, and the next room, and the next room, all empty. We eventually walked to the end of the hallway where there was a door with extra security.

Apollo shook his head at us and approached it. He pulled something and pushed a few key points and then it opened, although really it looked like a basic lock. "They had them back in Asgard. Press one wrong thing and it will explode." he explained. We nodded and the door slid open.

We walked inside and saw Aunt Jane tied to a chair. She gave us a look that we understood. Someone's in there.

Someone came out from behind the wall and started shooting rapid-fire at dodged the bullets and quickly shot at him. He went down fast and that was that. He could be dead, could be not dead, I don't really care. We untied Aunt Jane and left quickly, but not before we checked for any other prisoners and blew up the place.

We went back on the plane and the three of them looked at us. "I think we'll go in hiding for a bit, but I don't think Avengers Tower is suitable for us." Aunt Jane said.

"Okay. But if anything else happens, tell somebody. Don't keep running if you don't have to. Or you could just call Thor." I said. They smiled.

"Okay. We will. Bye." Apollo said. They left and got on their plane, leaving us behind. We went into the kitchen only to find none other than Nicholas Fury sitting at our dining table. He looked up at us.

"Sit down." he said. We looked at him skeptically.

"Why are you here?" Red asked him coldly. She doesn't like him very much, I know that for sure.

"Funny. That's exactly what your mom said when I paid your dad and her a visit. Except we used to be on semi-civil terms." he said.

"Did you expect them to like you after you sent me on a suicide mission? Cut the crap Fury. Why are you here?" she asked.

"You're going on a mission. You have to infiltrate a secret organization that is working on manipulating emotions to brainwash people and use that for their own personal gain, and go undercover for as long as need be." Fury said to me.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. I know exactly what happened last time we listened to one of your so called missions." I said.

"Actually, I never lied to you. I told you she wouldn't die. And she's sitting next to you." he said. I glared at him.

"He said he's not going." Red told him, glaring as well.

"Okay. You both know what the effects of brainwashing are. Would you like to put others through that?" he asked, trying to guilt trip me.

"No. You can send somebody else." I said.

"No, we need you." he said persistently. "You have the ability to sense and manipulate emotions. That means that you can tell how far somebody is in the process and revert them back to normal. It also means you can know if it's working or not, so you won't need to know the science." he said pointedly.

I rolled my eyes. "Then send in an actual scientist. They know the science, they're an agent, so they know basic operations, and because they know the science they can correctly analyze the situation." I said.

"But they don't have the power to reverse the bad done." he said, raising his voice.

"Fine." I said.

"What?" they both asked at once.

"I'll go. Under a few conditions." I said. Red gave me an incredulous look, but didn't argue with me.

"One, many cameras and communication devices, as many as possible. Two, back up available at any given time. And three, everyone is going to know where I'm going and when I'm going before I leave, not after." I said, daring him to argue with me.

"I figured you would say that. They already know." He said.

"You told them that I was going before I even agreed?" I asked him.

"Yes. I knew you were going to go. You're one of the most predictable people I know. And I know Barton." he said.

"I need details." I said, ignoring his comment.

"And you'll get them. You leave in two days. Meet me at the Hub." he said, getting up and leaving. Where he was going, I have no idea.

I looked at Red, expecting her to say something. But instead she just sighed. "If you don't come back alive, I will kill you." she told me.

I didn't argue with the logic of that statement, because knowing her, she'd find a way to make it work. "I'll come back. You worry too much." I said.

"And don't hurt yourself. And don't-" I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers.

"I'll be fine." I said. She gave me a look.

"If you say so. I mean, that's what you said last time, when you pushed me out of the way and let yourself get kidnapped and all that. And were you fine? No." she pointed out.

"I know. But that was different." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"I don't really want to argue with you about this. I can't stop you from going, but I can stop you from doing anything incredibly stupid." she said.

"Do you just expect me to do something stupid?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes I do." she replied. I laughed.

"I won't. I'll be okay." I told her.

"Oh you better be." she muttered. I looked at her seriously.

"Really though. I'll come back and I'll be fine." I said. She looked back at me.

"I know. Just be careful. And don't-"

"Do anything stupid. I know." I said, smiling. She smiled and kissed me.

And then Ria came in. "Guys, I need to make dinner. So you need to go canoodle somewhere else." she said. We laughed and left the kitchen, sitting on the couches outside.

"You need to practice your fire." she told me. "If you're going, you need all the power you can get."

"I know." I said, sighing. She looked at me pointedly.

"I know you don't like it. I don't either. I hate seeing you lose control, but we have to figure this out. It'll only get harder as time goes on." she said.

"I just can't. I don't know, fire is so destructive. Why couldn't I get some power that's helpful? Or won't hurt anybody?" I said.

"Jase, once you figure this out, it can be helpful." she said.

"Okay. I'll try. After dinner." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Boys." she muttered, rolling her eyes. We got up and walked into the kitchen, where there was a lot more food than last time.

(JADE POV)

Oh that looks really good. I haven't eaten in days and I'm really hungry. Jase was practically drooling, so I elbowed him lightly. Ria had made a ravioli with sundried tomatoes and a light sauce. It smelled heavenly too.

"It smells great Ria." I said, smiling. She smiled.

"It's a secret recipe." she said, looking at us seriously. "I'm not sure if I can trust you with this very important secret." she said. I figured she must just be the type to take these things very seriously, so I just nodded. "I got it off of ." she whispered. Then we all started laughing hysterically, including her.

"I was going to say, I'm not going to try and cook it if that's what you were implying." I said, still smiling.

"Oh good. We wouldn't want you to ever know the secret recipe that millions of people all over the world use." she replied, looking serious for a second before we all started laughing again.

"Right. I'm sorry I asked." I said, wiping some tears from under my eyes. That's how hard we were laughing. In all honesty it wasn't that funny, but we were so tired and delusional it didn't matter.

We eventually stopped and finished our dinner in mostly silence. Then Marlin spoke up.

"So I'm going off for the weekend to see my sister. I already talked to the director." he said, smiling a little.

"That's great. When will you be back?" Ria asked him.

"Probably Tuesday. I'm leaving tomorrow morning." he said.

"Well, have fun." I said.

"Oh yes, that reminds me. My cousin is getting married. I'll also be leaving tomorrow afternoon, but I'll be back in a week probably." she said.

"We'll probably go home for a little while." Jase said, lying surprisingly well. But then again, that's probably because he's incapable of lying to me.

"Oh right. You two live together." Ria teased.

"Please. In a giant tower with at least 20 other people." I said, rolling my eyes.

"But you still live with each other." Marlin said, smirking.

"And we also sleep together. In case you hadn't noticed." Jase said dryly.

"Aren't you two a bit young for this stuff?" Ria asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

We groaned. "RIA. We didn't mean it like that." I said. She laughed.

"Sure you didn't." she said, smirking.

"I mean, you are teenagers. And dating. And share a bed." Marlin said, listing them off.

We blushed. "Okay. We get it." Jase muttered.

"No no. I don't think you do. You see, there are these things called hormones, and-" Ria started.

"Shut. Up." I groaned, running a hand down my face. They laughed.

"This is the most fun I've had in awhile." Marlin said.

We were still blushing bright red.

"Red make them stop." Jase muttered, hiding his face in my shoulder.

"I can't." I replied, glaring at the older agents.

"Okay okay. We'll stop." Ria said, still laughing.

"Finally!" I muttered.

"Well, I'm going to get some work done in the lab." Ria said, getting up and putting her dishes away.

"I have to finish packing." Marlin said, getting up as well. They both left the room, and I looked at Jase pointedly.

He sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Jase, if you really don't want to, then it's fine. I'm not going to force you to." I told him.

"I know. But you're right. I need to learn to control it. It's not something I can just forget about." he replied.

"I wish you could." I said regretfully.

"It's no use wishing for something we can't have." he said.

"I know." I replied quietly. I looked at him suddenly. "Why did you suddenly decide to accept the mission?" I asked him.

"Fury was desperate. All of his emotions were practically begging me to accept it, because if I hadn't, then one of the very few people in the world he cares about will die. I know what that kind of desperation is like." He said.

"Jase . . . I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry that all of this happened, and really the majority of it is my fault, and-" he cut me off by kissing me. He does that quite a lot, now that I think of it. Well, it doesn't matter, it's effective.

He pulled away just a little, resting his forehead on mine. "Don't be sorry. None of it was your fault, and I don't regret a single minute of it." He said.

"But I do. I regret it more than you know." I replied, looking straight in his eyes.

"Well I would do it all over again if I had to." he said quieter.

I smiled slightly. "I love you so much." I said.

"I love you too." he replied, and I kissed him again. We were kissing for a few minutes before I pulled away. "Oh no mister, you're not off the hook yet." I told him.

He smirked and pulled me closer. "But this is more fun." He said cheekily.

"I hate it when you're right." I muttered, and then he kissed me again.

(LATER)

It's the big day. Everyone is leaving today. So I'm going to hang out at home for a while, but for the most part I'll be on comms because there is no way I'm letting anything happen to him. Not this time. Marlin has already left, Ria is leaving right now, and Jase is leaving in about an hour.

Right now Nat is on the plane with us, because she wanted to see Jase off just as much I I did, and she also has to threaten Fury just as thoroughly as I plan to once we get to the Hub.

Speaking of, here we are. We got off the plane and I immediately walked over to Fury's office, where I already saw Jason's parents in there, looking furious.

I walked in, overriding any locks and such, and went straight up to him, disregarding the astonished looks from my boyfriend's parents. I glared at him.

"If he doesn't come back safe and alive and in at least decent condition, I will hurt you so badly you'll be forced to retire, move into a nursing home, and eventually rot to death." I said, knowing his worst fear was being put into a nursing home. Ironic right?

He looked only slightly afraid, being quite capable of masking emotions, but I can read minds, and I know that the thought terrifies him. I smirked. "So you better make sure that he does come back alive and well. Because I will not be held accountable for what I do if he doesn't." I said, before walking out of the office.

"You threatened him didn't you?" Jase asked me, sounding amused, from behind me. I shrugged and turned around.

"Maybe I did. Anyway, I meant every word I said." I told him. He smiled.

"I know you did. What did you say anyway?" he asked.

"I told him I'll force him to move into a nursing home." I said. He laughed.

"No way. The great ex-director Fury is scared of nursing homes?" he was laughing very hard, and I smirked.

"Yup." I replied.

"That's hilarious. I mean, that's just so ironic. The guy who looks like a pirate and caused us so much pain is afraid of NURSING HOMES." he said, grinning.

"I know right." I said dryly. To be honest, I have a terrible feeling about this mission he's going on.

I had a nightmare last night. It could've been a vision, or it could've just been a plain old bad dream; however, I have the worst feeling that it was prophetic.

All I remember is seeing flashes of different scenes, each one getting worse. I saw someone that looked a lot like Jason bound to a steel chair, unconscious. I saw everyone about to tell me some bad news, solemn expressions on their faces. I saw many other things too. But I didn't tell Jase any of this. I don't want him to worry about me when he has to stay focused.

"Red?" he asked, looking at me concerned.

"What? Oh. Sorry. I zoned out." I said, stopping the flood that was coming.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I just have a really bad feeling about this. Be careful, okay?" I said to him. We had started walking to the plane already, and he was about to get on and leave.

"I will. I'll be fine Red." he said, smiling.

"You better be." I told him sternly. He kissed me.

"I will. I promise." he said. For some reason I have the most dreadful feeling that that's a promise he can't keep. But I said nothing of that.

"Okay. I love you." I said.

"I love you too." he replied, kissing me one last time before he walked onto the plane. I know he's nervous. I know he's worried about this, but I would be too.

I just hope he comes out of this okay.

(LATER)

He's been gone for a few hours now, so I walked into Eddie's office to get a quick update before I head back to the Tower. Alana is coming to pick us all up.

"Hey Eddie." I said, walking in. He turned around and had a grim expression on his face.

"Jade, I have some bad news." he said.

"Okay. What?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady even though my thoughts were screaming at me.

"Jason's gone."


	9. Downward Spiral

**Hello everyone! New chapter! This one is going to be slightly shorter than usual, as explained in the last chapter. Enjoy! :)**

"What do you mean, he's gone?" I asked him, glaring daggers externally, but internally i was berating myself for letting him go when I knew this would happen.

"Jade, he's dropped off the map entirely. No satellites are picking him up, his trackers are all gone, but you can find him, right?" Eddie asked me warily, already sending agents out to look for him.

"Of course I c-" I stopped abruptly as the second train of thought that was always in the back of mind disappeared completely. I wanted to scream because of the unfairness. "I can't. I can't pick up his thoughts. They just disappeared." I said coldly. His eyes widened.

"Do you think it's just you? We'll contact Charlie and see if he can find Jason. I have multiple teams out looking for him already. Sometimes I really hate Fury." He said.

"Oh believe me. If Jason doesn't come back, well you don't want to know what I plan to do to Fury." I muttered, glaring.

"We'll find him." Eddie promised. I looked at him.

"Oh you better. I'm going to talk to Aunt Skye. Maybe she can find him." I said, exiting the office.

I'm seething. And terrified. What if he's getting hurt? What if he already is hurt? I can't do this. I can't live without knowing if he's safe or even alive. Oh but he better be alive. He swore to me that he would come back to me. If he doesn't- I can't think about that.

"Jade? He'll be fine, okay?" Elliot said. I looked at him.

"I hope so." I said. "He's dropped off the map. I can't reach him with my telepathy. We don't know if he's even alive." I said, trying not to show any emotion.

"What?! Why hasn't anyone told us? We should all be out there right now, looking for him." He said.

"Jade, Jason is gone?" Sarah asked alarmed. I nodded grimly. I often forget that they're cousins, they look and act so different.

"What are we doing here then? Let's go look for him! I'm calling everyone else. Meet in the center in 5." She said, whipping out her tablet and walking away briskly.

"Don't forget about us. We're coming too." I heard Agent X say from behind us.

"You knew this would happen." I accused her. She just nodded and accepted it.

"You did too." She pointed out. "But we can't change it. Just like when your kids came from the future to change the past, you can't meddle with it. If it's meant to happen it's meant to happen. And if there was any way to make sure that Jason didn't die, I would've implemented it. Why do you think I tried to separate you two so much? Not out of spite."

"Jase is going to die?!" I asked, outraged.

"Not if we can help it. We will find him." Tanner said determinedly.

"There is no way that we're staying here. All of us are going and we're all splitting up to find him." Naomi said.

"We have to meet Sarah in the center in about a minute. Everyone else is already there." I said. We all walked over there briskly and that's where my dad took charge like he usually ends up doing.

"All right. Natasha, myself, Jade, Johnny, Naomi, you're team one. Team two, Sarah, Dianna, Alana, May, and Skye. Team three, Jack, Elliot, Tanner, Clint, and Tony . Juliana, Robert, and Natalie, Agent X, James, you're team four. Fitzsimmons, Andrew, Bruce, Betty, Pepper, and Lincoln, we need you here at Base on comms. Lincoln, I need you to track us, make sure we're not being followed. Pepper, Fitz, we're going to need you to disable the security systems. Bruce, Betty, Simmons, be prepared for any injuries coming back. Teams, if any of you gets injured, come back immediately. We're not losing anyone else, got it? Okay, go." He said. How he managed to plan all that in a second is beyond me. He made it up as he went really, because he did not have a plan a minute ago. In some senses, I'm glad my parents are coming with me, even if they're being helicopter-y. My only concern is Juliana. I mean, obviously Jase's parents are good, but I don't want her to get hurt.

We walked briskly out to our planes and we left Riley with Eddie, who was upset that he had to stay here and do "director crap" when he could be out looking for Jason. And I don't blame him one bit. But Nat was kidnapped as a child when her parents went on a mission, so she doesn't really trust Riley with anyone else while she's gone.

"Okay. Lincoln already divided up where we're going. We're heading straight to Jason's destination, a few miles from where his plane is." my mom told us. We nodded and grabbed our weapons. We're heading to Canada.

"There are twenty alarm systems at the front." I said to Uncle Fitz through the comms.

"How-"

"It's an AI. I can hack it with my brain." I explained, and then we got off the plane.

"Wait, so can you see if Jason's in there?" aunt pepper asked.

"I can't. I looked." I said shortly, as we were within range.

"Fitz, we good?" My dad asked.

"One moment and- all clear." He said. We quickly entered and searched everywhere.

"Naomi, sensor at left." I said quietly. She quickly moved and disabled it on the spot. Johnny shot precise arrows at any surveillance cameras, destroying them.

We were about to turn a corner before I signaled for everyone to stop. I signed to my dad something and he nodded. 'Enemy across the corner, get your shield at a 87 degree angle and throw it. You'll knock down all of them.'

He did that and everyone except one was immediately knocked down. I shot him in the heart, not in the mood for a fight or being humane.

My parents gave me a look but said nothing. And even if they had said something, I wouldn't have listened. My dad doesn't approve of killing in general, but I know for a fact that if he were ever in this situation he would kill everyone here for mom. So I'm glad he didn't say anything.

"More guards, left and right. Johnny, shoot gas arrows on both sides. But be quick." Uncle Lincoln said over the comms.

Johnny did as he was told and when the gas in front of us dissipated everyone there was unconscious. We stepped over them and that's when we saw it. A long hallway that seemed to have no end with doors along the whole place.

"None of them are occupied, except for that one." I said, pointing at the room a few doors down from us.

We hesitantly opened it, terrified at what we would see, and I almost stopped breathing when I saw a blond head hanging limp from some guy's body, but it wasn't Jase. So while I'm mortified by this, Jase isn't here. And he's not that guy. So it's okay. But I saw this in my vision. Which means that everything else is going to come true.

"Jade?" Naomi said hesitantly. "That- it says that this is Jason." she said, pointing to a sheet of paper. I sucked in a deep breath.

"It's not though. Look. Jase has a long scar running across his left leg. There is no scar." I said, hoping that it really wasn't him.

"I don't know then. The face doesn't look like him, so maybe they were planning on-" Naomi was cut off by the sound of men outside. Not in the mood, I telekinetically pulled guns on them so there was a gun for each.

They all aimed for me and I pulled all the triggers at once. I'm not about to be killed by a bunch of psychopaths. But one of them had shot before the bullet got to him and it would've hit me too. By instinct I was going to move, but Johnny was behind me, and in a split second I focused on the bullet, making it turn around with my powers.

Everyone let out a breath and their eyes were wide. "How did you do that?" Aunt Pepper asked.

"I have no idea." I answered, slightly dazed, but I had no time to ponder this. We left the building quickly, seeing as there was nobody else here, and left the building. I sighed in defeat. Why isn't he there? Where is he?

"Aunt Pepper, have any of the others found him?" I asked thickly, terrified.

"Jade, I'm sorry, but he's-"

"Don't say it. Don't you dare say it." I whispered.

"Jade, nobody has found him. We searched everywhere. We'll keep searching, but there's no guarantee that he's even alive." she said quietly. I can't do this. How am I supposed to do this?

"Okay." I said shakily, pulling the earpiece out and throwing it on the snowy ground. I let myself fall behind everyone else before I turned around and silently walked away from them. They won't leave without me. And even if they do, it doesn't matter.

It's finally sinking in. Jase could be dead. He might not be alive. Before, I could hear his thoughts, regardless of how much they pained me, I knew that he was alive. I knew that he was okay and not dead.  
But now, he could be gone. Forever, and I'll never see him again, and we'll never be together ever again and- I took a deep breath. I need to calm down.

"Why us?" I whispered to myself, tears running down my face. I sank down on my knees and just cried. He can't be dead. He can't, he just, he can't.

I cried for a long time before my mom found me. She let everyone know that she had found me before I stood up and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"Jade, we'll find him. Okay, we'll find him." she told me.

"But what if we don't?" I asked desperately, trying to hold on to anything any meager piece of hope, despite how stupid I am for doing so.

"We will. We'll find him, and he'll be okay, and everything will be alright." she told me, pulling me into a hug. I let the tears flow out some more.

"You don't know that. Mom, he's gone. How could he just disappear? How can I not hear his thoughts? Why?" I asked, sobbing into her shoulder.

"It's all going to be okay. Okay? We're going to find him." she promised me. I pulled away, and dried my tears again, chastising myself for breaking down. I can't break down.

Nobody found a body. So he's not dead. That's the end of it. Everybody will keep looking until we find him.

(SIX DAYS LATER)

I walked into the common room where everyone was already gathered. I haven't left my room in a while, nor have I been eating. I can't sleep without Jase here. They tried telling me that it was nearly impossible that he was alive, but I refused to believe it.

"So? Did you find anything else?" I asked. They glanced at each other nervously, and I knew what they were going to say. I could feel the panic building in the back of my mind. Because this was the second scene of my nightmare.

"Jade, we have to announce him dead. There is no possible way that you wouldn't be able to hear his thoughts otherwise." My dad said. Looking around the room, I could see Jason's parents with red, puffy eyes and Nat looked even worse than them. Everyone else looked like they had cried too.

"No. He can't be dead." I said quietly, not believing it.

"Jade. We don't want to believe it either. But that's what happened. Just grow up and accept it." Nat snapped at me, getting up and leaving. I had half a mind to go and slap her, but I didn't. I couldn't.

I couldn't move beside the uncontrollable shaking. I couldn't hear anything and my breathing was accelerating, my heart barely beating. I could barely make out Aunt Simmons telling them that it was an anxiety attack. And then everything went black.

I had many nightmares, but I couldn't wake up. And there was no Jase this time to help me. I saw him dying in front of me in every way possible. And all I wanted was to wake up.

But when I finally did I realized that the reality was no better. That no matter where I was, it's just as terrible. They had moved me to my room for the night, but I felt cold and alone.

I was wearing Jason's shirt and a pair of my shorts, and I can't help feel like there's no way that he's dead.

But then I mentally slap myself because I was being hopeful. And that's never good. I let myself be hopeful before, and now I'm worse off than I would've been if I had just accepted it.

I curled up as small as I could get and stared at the wall, trying not to cry. I tried not to let this all get the best of me. But it wasn't working. He's been gone for six days.

I started to break down. Again. I can hardly breath anymore. Ever.

I was starting to imagine things. I could hear Jase telling me that he's right here, but then I turn to look and there's nothing there. This was the third scene of my vision, him disappearing right before my eyes.

I sniffled and shut my eyes tightly, trying to ignore everything.

The next morning I woke up and didn't bother changing, not caring if anyone saw my scars. It doesn't matter. Not anymore. I walked into the kitchen and saw Nat getting some cereal out of the cabinet. I saw the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and just that made me want to cry. So I did the reasonable thing. I pulled them all out and tossed them in the trash.

"Jade, there are other people in this house that eat that." Nat said. Whatever. I didn't bother responding. "You need to stop pretending like you're the only one affected by this."

"And you need to stop being such a jerk." I said coldly, my voice hoarse from crying.

"I'm his sister. You're just his girlfriend. Why are you so pathetic? You have to move on and accept it. I doubt you even genuinely ca-"

Before she could finish I had a knife pressed against her neck and a murderous glare in my eyes.

"Go ahead, finish that sentence. Don't you dare say that I don't care. I know every little detail about you. All your worst fears, all your insecurities. Don't push me, because I will use that information against you if I have to." I said, moving away and leaving, realizing that this was a massive waste of time.

(STEVE POV)

Jade is going down, fast. She almost slit Natalie's throat. She was hallucinating. She hasn't slept or eaten in a week. She doesn't even care that everyone can see her scars and she just threw away five boxes of cereal, most likely because it was Jason's favorite.

Natasha and I have been monitoring her and it's painful to see her like this. She broke down a total of ten times last night.

I sighed and put my arm around Natasha comfortingly.

Jade isn't doing okay. And it's hurting us. A lot. I never wanted any of this. None of it. But we have to keep an eye on her because she could end it for herself at any time.

We walked down the hallway only to hear a giant crash coming from her room. We tried opening the door, but it was locked. And then I ended up kicking it down only to see a chair completely demolished on the floor and her curled up next to it, sobbing and asking for it to stop. Natasha was already next to her, making sure she was okay.

Jade refused to look at us, refused to talk to us, would only nod her head yes or no.

I sighed. We should've known this would happen.

"Jade, what happened? How did the chair break?" Natasha asked her gently. She looked at us reluctantly.

"I- I saw him. He was here. And then I blinked, and he was gone." She said quietly, the tears falling already.

We shared a miserable look. We can't stop any of this. She's hallucinating and wrecking herself and we can do nothing about it.

"Jade. It'll get easier. I promise you, you'll be okay." I told her. She looked at me.

"But I won't." She said.

"Don't say that. We'll figure it out, okay?" Natasha told her.

What else can we do? We can't do anything to help her. What can we even say to help her get better?

"Jade . . . Please, just try. Don't give up yet, okay?" I asked her. She nodded silently.

"How am I supposed to keep trying when he's dead? He was the only reason I kept trying all this other times. Because he needed me. But now he doesn't. So what's the point?" she asked.

"Jade, we need you. And if you don't believe that, then think about Juliana. She would be crushed. She is crushed. If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for her." Natasha said.

"Okay. For Ana." she said quietly, then she got up and left.

When she left we saw something that made our eyes widen. There was a blood stained shirt sitting in the corner, half under the bed, half not. Natasha pulled it out and examined it.

"It's fresh. At least from today." She said. I nodded and then we searched the bathroom. We saw a bunch of bandages strewn about, with blood on them as well. I gasped.

"That's a lot of blood Nat." I said. She nodded.

"You don't think she's-" she started before cutting herself off.

"No. I don't think so. I don't think she would. Maybe her gunshot wound reopened?" I suggested.

"No. It's on her back. Maybe that's why there are bloody bandages. She couldn't reach." She said.

Just then Jade walked back in and when she saw us she froze. "Jade?" I asked, indicating to the shirt in Natasha's hands.

"I have a cut on my back." She said quietly.

"How? You haven't left your room, much less the tower in a while." I asked.

"I kind of attacked Fury last night." She said nervously.

(LAST NIGHT, JADE POV)

I snuck out of the Tower, making sure that JARVIS wouldn't tell anyone, making my way to the Hub. I still don't believe it. I can't do this. And for some reason I feel like I have to go there. It's the last place I saw him.

I walked in through the large glass doors and when the locking mechanism asked for security clearance I just broke it telekinetically. Forget precautions.

I walked up to the main desk. "Where's Fury?" I asked coldly. The agent didn't look up.,

"I'm afraid I can't-" she looked up and saw me, then she blinked. "Sorry, he just went through that hallway. How did you get in exactly?"

"Security is useless on me." I said. "But thanks." I walked away towards where she said Fury would be.

"Hey Pirate." I said, using the name only I ever had the guts to call him to his face when we were younger. He turned around.

"Agent Rogers. I'm sorry for your loss." He greeted formally, before turning around again.

"Don't you dare leave now. You killed him." I accused.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I didn't shoot him down. I never put a bullet in his chest. So I didn't kill him, and I really am sorry for what happened.." He said.

"There are other ways to kill people without guns." I said darkly.

"That's nice. I don't think you know what I'm capable of. You think you're all that, but really you're just scared." He said plainly. That's when it was too much and I unleashed my mind power.

"No. I know what you're capable of. I also know exactly what I'm capable of." I said.

"You won't just get away with it that easily." He said, drawing his gun shakily, having much more resistance that the normal person.

I knocked it out of his hands telekinetically and punched his jaw. He glared at me, before fighting back. He was a challenging opponent, but I was still better.

Then someone came up behind me with knives and threw one. I managed to stop it in time that it didn't go too deep and kill me, but it was still bleeding heavily.

I turned and glared at the person, and I could hear Fury thinking, trying to find a way to get back up. So I stopped it. I knocked them both out and left.

And as I was about to exit I thought I saw Jase looking at me, his eyes sad, but I then I blinked and he was gone. I went home and just cried.

(PRESENT, STEVE POV)

"You did what?!" We both asked, shocked that she was even alive right now.

"Yeah, I kind of went to the hub and he was there and I kind of punched him in the face." she said.

"You punched Fury. Did he hurt you?" I asked. She shrugged.

"No. He couldn't get a good shot at me. I had every intention to kill him too, but somebody random saw us and joined in on Fury's side and caught me off guard, resulting in the giant cut on my back that's almost identical to the other one I got because of Fury and his stupid missions." she said.

"You were going to kill him?" Natasha asked.

"He killed Jase. He deserved it." She said coldly, not even slightly fazed by the fact that she went on a murderous rampage.

"He didn't kill him Jade. He didn't know that he would die." I said.

"Oh don't take his side. He knew the dangers of sending Jase alone. He's dead because of him. And one day, when I can't take it anymore, I'll be dead because of him too." She said icily, and for the first time I was scared of my own daughter. I was scared of what she's capable of doing. Right now she's extremely unstable and even the slightest thing could set her off, and I don't want her to do something she'll regret.

"Jade, nobody is taking sides. You need to calm down." Natasha said, noticing how Jades breathing had quickened and her eyes were flickering between us warily, as if we would turn on her at any minute.

What happened to her? She's not doing okay. She needs help. I would ask Andrew but I don't want him to get hurt. What can we do? Nobody at SHIELD will help either.

She was at the Hub a few days after Jason had gone missing and she started having a breakdown out of nowhere. And when she woke up she was in a containment unit that they use for the mentally unstable. I found her in there and nearly punched everyone there for putting her in there as if she was insane.

She wasn't then, but I'm starting to doubt whether or not she is now.

She suddenly was struggling to breathe, looking like she was choking. "Jade? Jade! Steve, get somebody!" Natasha said frantically as Jade was suffocating.

Dianna quickly came in and pulled a sedative out, injecting Jade with it quickly and she went limp, her breathing slowly turning back to normal.

"Steve, this is too much. We can't even leave her alone for a second anymore. She could stop breathing, or go kill someone, and we can't stop her. And she's driving herself crazy." Natasha said.

"I know. We can't even say anything to her, because she won't believe it. And even if Jade gets better, nobody here is ever going to look at her the same again. Nobody will trust her. And she doesn't get to live in ignorance, she knows what everyone thinks of her at any given moment." I said, looking down.

"Jade . . . Don't do anything you'll regret." She whispered to our unconscious daughter. Then Jade, even unconscious, started screaming and kicking at some invisible enemy. We tried to wake her up, but it wasn't working.

She was whispering to herself now, and I could hear every word of it.

She was having nightmares of her time in Australia. We watched her, trying to wake her up unsuccessfully while she struggled through it, until she woke up. Her eyes opened and she looked in front of her confused, and somewhat happy. Then she blinked and her expression turned a mixture of angry and sad.

(SEVEN DAYS LATER)

It's been two weeks since Jason went missing, and eight days since he was announced dead, and Jade is only getting progressively worse. To be honest, his family was doing better than Jade was. She doesn't eat, doesn't sleep unless we sedate her, which only happens as a result of an anxiety attack, and even so is filled with nightmares.

Fury came to the tower with his good eye swollen and a bruise on his jaw, and Jade almost went at him again. We held her back. She has been hallucinating a lot more. She looks skinny and pale and her skin is an ashy gray color. She's not doing good.

I don't think she's put on anything but pajamas for the past week, and they usually consist of one of Jason's shirts that hangs way too big on her and a pair of shorts. She could care less that everyone has been seeing her scars. Everyone else is disconcerted by them, and her.

They're terrified. Her friends are scared for her and their parents are scared of her. She's been glaring at everyone and Natalie isn't helping the situation.

I know that some of the adults feel like Jade is overreacting, but she's not. Not at all.


	10. Recovery

**Hey guys! This is the new chapter! Nothing much to say, just that it left off right where the other chapter ended. Enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

I'm so done. I went on that goddamn mission that Fury assigned me, and then I went missing for two weeks. My power still isn't working. I mean, the fire is, but I still can't feel Red's emotions, and I wish I could. I don't know how she's doing, but it's probably not good. And I don't think she can hear my thoughts either, or she would've come and found me already.

I was kidnapped and stuck inside a room. Someone masked came in to interrogate me, and when I didn't tell them what they wanted to know, they left me, for a week. And then the door opened and I was let out into a maze. It was a very difficult maze, and it was constantly changing and moving around, upon other . . . Obstacles. I finally found my way out, and here I am, in front of Avengers Tower, home.

I walked inside only to find nobody there. It was three AM, so I'm not surprised. I went into the elevator and upstairs to Jade's room. I know she's awake. I can hear her walking around in there.

I knocked and she opened the door. When she saw me she did something totally unexpected.

She started shaking her head rapidly and telling me to go away. "You're not here. Why do I keep seeing you?! You're dead." She said, crying. She thought I was dead?

"Red, I'm really here, I'm not dead." I said.

She shook her head. "Why don't you leave me alone? You're not real."

"Red, it's really me." I said.

"No! I just want it to stop!" She said, opening her drawer where I know she keeps a spare gun.

"Red, stop!" I said, coming in quickly. She looked weaker than usual, a lot weaker than usual.

"I can't- I can't do this anymore. I can't handle the hallucinations and the nightmares." she whispered, pressing the barrel against the side of her head.

I quickly disarmed her and looked her in the eye.

"It's me. Red, I'm alive, and I'm right here. You're not hallucinating." I said. She started crying a lot, sobbing even. She sank down to the floor and I followed her, holding her tightly. She struggled for a little bit before she looked at me.

"Promise me. Promise me you're real. You're not going to disappear in a second. Jase, I need to know you're not dead." She said, her voice shaking.

"I promise. I'm here, and I'm never leaving you again." I swore. She cried into my shoulder, holding on as though if she let go I would disappear.

But that probably is what she was afraid of. Then Aunt Tasha and Uncle Steve appeared in the doorway, and were shocked.

(NATASHA POV)

Am I hallucinating too? I don't know. Steve and I heard Jade crying from down the hall and came over to see what had happened. When we get here, we see Jason, alive, and holding Jade tightly as she cried. We decided to just leave and let them have their moment.

(JASON POV)

Red cried for what seemed like hours before she looked at me. "Why can't I hear your thoughts? Did they put something on you?" she asked, examining me closely. "And why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"My shirt was really ripped up, so I just took it off. As for the other stuff I don't know. I can't feel your emotions either." I said. She winced.

"That's probably a good thing." She muttered, looking at my back. "Aha! Here. This is going to hurt." She said, pulling something off of the center of my back. I winced slightly. "And you're hurt." She said, giving me a look. Clearly she can hear my thoughts again. And I can feel her emotions. Oh god. Never in my life have I felt more guilty about anything.

"It's not bad. I'm fine really." I said. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You have bruises all over your back." she stated, giving me a look.

"Really? I didn't notice." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked. I sighed.

"It really wasn't that bad. They wanted information on SHIELD. I refused to tell them. And then they left me alone for a week before the door to the room unlocked. By the way, everything was fireproof. Then there was a giant maze. It constantly changed and eventually I got out. Then I realized I was in New York City and I walked here." I summed up.

She looked at me. "You should probably go see your family now." she said.

I smiled. "Yeah, I should."

"Warning. I kind of almost slit Nat's throat. And everyone is kind of scared I'm going to start having a panic attack at any moment. So you know. Things are different around here. Everyone is a little terrified of me. Especially since I attacked Fury." she said quietly.

"You attacked Fury?!" I asked her incredulously.

She smiled slightly. "I was pissed. He sent you on a mission where you 'died'. So I was on a murderous rampage."

"What else did I miss?" I asked. She winced.

"A lot. I'll tell you all of it later." she said, not meeting my eyes. She got up and went into her closet to change.

I thought about how everyone would react. Nat would probably crush me in a hug, which will hurt like crazy. Mom will probably also crush me in a hug before telling me that I'm grounded. Dad will most likely hug me and then ask me how life has been. Yup. There you have my whole family summed up in three sentences.

Red came out and we walked downstairs. I'm thoroughly prepared for Elliot to punch me for disappearing for so long. And Juliana might punch me too.

"Jade? You're-" Juliana started before she saw me. Her jaw dropped.

"You're alive? You jerk. Do you have any idea what you've done? Was a call too much to ask for?" She asked, not looking entirely angry.

"Sorry. Sorry. Next time I'll call." I joked. She punched my arm.

"You better." she said, running into the kitchen quickly.

"Guys! Jason's back!" She said excitedly. I didn't hear a response until I actually walked in. When Nat saw me she started crying a little and crushed me. It hurt like crazy but I didn't say anything and hugged her back.

Then she pulled away and glared at me.

"If you ever make me think that you're dead ever again, I will make sure that you end up actually dead." She threatened. It was really empty though, because right after she hugged me again.

My parents reacted pretty much exactly how I predicted they would. Afterwards we sat down in the kitchen and that's when I noticed all of the little things with Red that were different. It's like she backtracked three years, to when she was still recovering.

She was glancing around the room nervously as though anyone would attack her and all of her muscles were tensed.

I put my arm around her and she relaxed slightly but not much. I then noticed how everyone else was looking at her. It was wary, as though she would explode any minute. And she knew. I saw Nat giving her a very wary look and I gave my sister a pointed look in return.

I got up and was going to grab some cereal when I noticed that it was all gone. I'm confused. Nat eats it too, not just me. And she doesn't eat 5 boxes within 2 weeks.

"Where's the Cinnamon Toast Crunch?" I asked.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds before Nat spoke up.

"Someone threw it away in a fit of rage." she said, looking pointedly at Red, who got up and left. I rolled my eyes.

"What was that for?" I asked her irritated.

"She tried to slit my throat." She said, giving me a challenging look. She wants to know who I'll choose. But choosing isn't an option. Those two need to just move on and get over it.

"Please. Red doesn't just randomly attack people." I said.

"Oh yeah? She attacked Fury in the Hub, and then she was going to kill him but she too but she was caught off guard." She informed.

"That wasn't random Nat. And you know it. In fact, if it had been Eddie who had assigned me that mission, she would've attacked him too." I replied. She stood up, really angry now.

"don't you dare bring Eddie into this!" She said. At this point everyone else looked highly uncomfortable.

"I'm putting it into perspective for you since clearly you're being a closed minded idiot. You're being ridiculous." I told her.

"Oh really?! She went on a murderous rage and I'm the one being ridiculous?" She asked.

"You don't get it Nat. You don't understand any of it. You're not even trying!" I told her, feeling my temperature rising. I was trying hard to control it right now but it's not working that well.

"You know what I do understand? She wasn't the only one affected by you being quote unquote dead. So she has no right to act like it." She replied, not noticing how much I was struggling. But I'm not about to leave the situation.

"She might not have been the only one, but she was definitely the most affected by it. And if you can't see that then you're blind. I know it was hard for you but you don't have to be a brat. Act like the adult you are." I said, feeling flames starting to flicker on my fingertips. I clenched my fists so nobody would see it. They have never seen me lose control over my fire before.

"No. You're blind to see that your girlfriend is a-"

"Don't you dare. You don't cross that line." I hissed, my entire fists on fire now. Everyone's eyes widened in shock, as they had never seen this before.

"Jase. Calm down." I heard Red say, and she grabbed my right hand. Everyone drew in a sharp breath, fearing that she would burn herself.

"I'm good." I said quietly as the flames died down, but she didn't let go. She just looked at everyone.

"I'm sorry. Nat, I'm sorry for almost slitting your throat. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry that you had to see me like that. Ana, I'm sorry that I kept pushing you away. It was all really uncalled for and you have every right to be angry with me. Just know I'm sorry." she said, before turning and leaving again.

I gave Nat a look before following her.

(ALANA POV)

What the heck just happened? One minute Jason and Nat are having a heated argument and the next minute he's on fire and then Jade apologized even though she really had nothing to apologize for and Nat looks extremely guilty and Jason is not dead and what?

I'm really lost. Nat turned and looked at Riley, who had been watching the whole exchange very quietly for a baby.

"Maybe I was a bit too hard on her?" She asked quietly.

"You think?" I replied.

Riley nodded and sucked on her thumb. I smiled slightly.

"I know. I know." she said resignedly.

"Good. Now you have to apologize." Uncle James said.

"But dad-"

"No buts." He said. Nat rolled her eyes.

(JADE POV)

I'm still kind of convinced that this is just a dream I'm going to wake up from at any minute. And I don't want that to be the case. I want him to actually be alive and real. But really who knows what's real and what's not.

"Promise me you're actually alive." I told him, probably looking desperate. But I am desperate.

"I promise you, I'm alive and real." he said. I nodded, still not sure whether or not to believe it.

I know logically that a hallucination can't last this long, but after everything I wouldn't be surprised.

"Jase?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you do it? I know I'm not easy to be with. Ever. And I have nightmares that keep you up at night. And I'm not okay." I said, looking him in the eye.

"Because Red, I love you. That's why. You're stuck with me." he told me.

I smiled a little. "I love you too." I told him.

"I'm never leaving you again." he swore.

I looked at him warily. "You are not allowed to leave my sight for the next 24 hours, got it? I'm still a little concerned that you're going to disappear on me." I said in a joking tone, although the real message behind my words was clear.

"I'm okay with that." he said, smiling slightly.

"Even if you weren't, you don't get a choice." I informed him. He laughed.

"I know." he said. Then his expression turned serious. "Seriously though, are you really okay?"

"I think so. I mean, I really have no idea whether or not I'm just having a really great dream and I'm going to wake up any minute and you're going to be gone again because even in my dreams you would still act and talk and be the exact same and you would know exactly what to say to convince me that it's not a dream but then I'll wake up and everything will be back to the way it was and you'll be dead again." I said, looking at him, trying to discern anything different about him. There's nothing different though. Nothing I can see.

He was silent for a few moments before he kissed me. I kissed back, because even if it's a dream, he's still a pretty great kisser.

"I'm real. It's not a dream. I could promise you that as much as I'm capable of doing, but it wouldn't do anything. So I'm going to prove it. However long it takes." he said.

I kissed him again. "I really hope this isn't a dream." I whispered. He looked me in the eyes.

"It's not." he said.

(LATER JASON POV)

We were about to go to sleep before Aunt Tasha came to talk to Red, about what I have absolutely no clue.

When she came back, she had a small smile on her face. "What did she want to talk about?" I asked.

"Nothing. She just asked if I was alright and all that." she said. "Why?"

I shrugged. "No reason. Just wondering." I said. She looked at me skeptically but just nodded.

She came and sat next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Are you sure you're fine? You were gone for two weeks." she asked.

"Yeah. Really, I'm okay." I said. I paused for a second. "What about you?" I asked.

"I could be better. But you're here now. So I'll be fine in a little bit." she said.

"You know I can't just magically get rid of all your problems right? Even as much as I want to?" I asked.

"I know. But you don't need magic." she said, looking at me.

I looked back at her. Even more little things started to come to light, like how skinny and pale she was. "You haven't eaten in awhile, have you?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter." She said.

"Yes it does. You were the one that told me that I have to take care of myself." I said.

"I'll eat. It's not like you've been eating either." She told me.

"I know. But I didn't have a choice." I said.

"Neither did I. I would go all crazy at anything and everything. I couldn't hurt anybody I cared about. After everything with Nat, I just didn't want to hurt anybody else." she said quietly. I put my arm around her tightly.

"I'm so sorry. I should've been here." I said guiltily.

"You couldn't have been. This is why I didn't tell you earlier. Because I know you. I didn't want you to feel guilty for something you had no control over." she said.

"I know exactly what that feels like." I said quietly. She didn't reply. A few minutes later she just sighed.

"Why us?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know. I really don't know." I replied.

"For once I wish everyone would just let us live our life." she said. "But I guess this is our life. It always has been." She said bitterly.

"Red . . ." I trailed off. What can I even say? She's right. And she knows it. Me saying anything else would be lying.

She looked at me. "Yeah." she muttered. "It sucks. But we're together right?" she said.

"That's really the only thing we have going for us right now." I said.

"Yeah." she said quietly, before leaning up and kissing me. She pulled away only slightly, leaning her forehead against mine.

"And neither of us are ever going on solo missions ever again." she said, giving me a pointed look. I smiled.

"Believe me, we're never doing that again." I replied, before kissing her again. She responded, wrapping her arms around my neck as mine ended up around her waist and it was kind of perfect.

(LATER, JADE POV)

I'm not sure whether or not to believe that Jase is actually here. We went to bed a little while ago, but I've been too terrified to sleep. He fell asleep a few hours ago, and he looked fairly peaceful. No nightmares yet.

I sighed and shifted slightly closer in his arms. I'm not going to lose him again. Not now, not ever.

I regret a lot of things in my life, but this past week just added another two pages to the already long list.

I mean, I almost hurt Nat. And I know, I knew, that she didn't mean any of what she said. She was in just as much pain as I had been, but instead of using logic and reason, I almost slit her throat. And I would've too, had I not known that there were people heading down to the kitchen.

And I know what they all think now. They're terrified of me. They're scared that I'm going to go all crazy again. My friends are more just worried for me, but their parents are scared of me.

Very scared. And they have every right to be. But that doesn't mean I want to live like this. Everyone in the tower, except for Jase, Juliana, Nat, and my parents, has had concerns regarding my mental state for years now. How on earth am I ever supposed to even look them in the eyes again?

I stopped that train of thought quickly. I'm not going down that road. Not tonight. They'll be plenty of time to think about this later.

I sighed and finally let myself fall asleep, and surprisingly, there were no nightmares.

When I woke up I didn't want to open my eyes. I could still feel Jason's arms around me, but I don't want to open my eyes and find that he's not actually here and that whole past day was just one really good dream.

I sighed and opened my eyes slowly, only to see him still sleeping peacefully. I glanced out the window and it was still dark out.

I looked back at him and started to really find out what happened to him. He's acting like it was nothing, pretending that he's fine and well, but he can't fool me.

I've seen the way he tenses around others. He's being extra overprotective of me since he got back. He would never have started fighting with Nat before. And those bruises didn't come from wandering around a maze.

I searched his sleeping brain, feeling slightly guilty about it, but I know he won't tell me on his own. No matter what I say or do he won't tell me. He worries about me a lot, and he probably doesn't want to put that on me now.

And that's irritating. Because he can't deal with all of this on his own, no matter what he thinks. Ugh. Boys and their "masculinity". I scoffed lightly.

He stirred slightly and turned on his side, facing away from me. I gently traced the scars on his bare back, remembering exactly where each came from.

Almost all of them are because of me. I know that. And I know that he doesn't care, nor does he regret it, but I do. I care. I regret it.

And I wish none of this ever happened. But it did. And now we have to live with it.

I faintly traced another. A long scar running from his shoulder down to the bottom of his spine. I remember this one very clearly, probably because I lived through it with him. He had been kidnapped and I could hear all of his thoughts resounding in the hollowness of my mind.

I wonder if that's how it was when I was kidnapped. He could feel my emotions. He could feel my fear the whole time I was there. For a month he had no control over his powers and had to suffer through that. Knowing that I was being hurt but not being able to do anything.

I hate that he had to go through that. I hate it with every fiber of my being. I hate the life we lead. The only thing that's of any consolation is that we're together.

Thinking he was dead showed me something. I'm weak. Very weak. I couldn't do it. I couldn't function without him. Even if we aren't always comforting each other every second, just the fact that the other is always near is comforting. Thinking he was dead shattered me into a million pieces.

I wish I could've gone on without him. He shouldn't have had to come home to me being like that. It's not right.

There were bruises covering his back, mottled and purple, not in any particular order. But they weren't random either. It's strange.

I could tell that they were put there by a human and not a machine, but I can't believe he's not telling me these things.

Suddenly he tensed. I put my hand on his shoulder lightly and he relaxed a little before his breathing went back to normal and he was asleep again.

I moved my hand away and glanced outside to see that the sun had risen in this seemingly short time that I'd been awake. I got up tiredly and went into my closet to change.

I came back out and found him awake and looking around tiredly.

He looked at me and smiled slightly. "Good morning." He said groggily.

"Good morning. I actually woke up before you. That's a first." I said. He closed his eyes as he was sitting up still.

"And I want to go back to sleep." He mumbled.

"Then go back to sleep." I said, smiling.

"You have to come here." He mumbled some more.

"Jase, I already washed up and changed." I told him.

"Red . . ." He whined.

"Fine. Fine. If you were anybody else I would slap you." I informed him. He smiled slightly.

"I know." He mumbled under his breath.

"Give me a minute." I said. There's no way I'm lying down in my tight jeans. I'll cut off my circulation.

I walked back into the closet and threw on a pair of shorts. I laid down next to Jase, looking at him.

"Happy now?" I asked, smiling.

"Yeah." He mumbled, putting his arms around me. "I know you didn't sleep much. Go back to sleep."

"How did you know?" I asked sarcastically. His tired brain didn't comprehend the sarcasm.

"You were touching my back." he said, his eyes already closed. He's really tired. He probably hasn't slept in two weeks.

"Sorry." I whispered, but he was already asleep again. I smiled slightly and let myself fall asleep too.


	11. I see fire I see rain

**Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter for you guys! So I have some important news. My other story, The Romances of Avengers Tower, will be on hold until further notice. It's a series of one-shots so I didn't leave you at a cliffhanger or anything. The reason for this is that I'm going to be started another spinoff series! This one is all about Agent X and Agent Smith, their backstories, and other things like that. I've had the ideas for this one for quite some time now, but I needed you guys to have a basis of what they're like now in order to incorporate this story into it. So yeah, I hope you enjoy that! I'm not sure what I'll be titling it, but I'll be sure to let you know in the next author's note. Well anyway, enjoy this one! I thought of the song "Flashlight" by Jessie J as I wrote the scene with the fire. :)**

(JASON POV)

I woke up to see Red curled up next to me, sleeping very deeply. I didn't move, instead deciding to stay right there and savor this. It's been two whole weeks. I know they didn't stop looking for me until a week ago, and they thought I was dead because Red couldn't hear my thoughts, but to be honest, I'm a little hurt by Nat's actions.

I mean, I always thought I could rely on her to look out for Red even when I can't. But I guess I was wrong. And I know she was under a lot of stress and pressure, but what she said wasn't okay.

But then there's a small part of me that questions if I'm overreacting. That tells me I should be standing up for Nat because she's my sister and she's always taken my side over Eddie's.

But I shut those thoughts down. I stand for what's right. But even more important than that, I stand up for Red. Always. Whenever she needs me, I'll be there.

She woke up and looked at me sleepily. "You worry too much." She murmured, her eyes closing again.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know." I murmured back.

"So are you going to tell me what actually happened while you were gone?" She asked drowsily, her voice still quiet.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tensing slightly.

"You thought I didn't notice? Give me some credit. I've known you since you were born. You tense up around people, including me. Physical contact bothers you, unless it's me. You fought with Nat, which you never do. You're covered in strange bruises all over your back. And it goes further down too. All the way down to your ankles. If you don't want to tell me you don't have to. But I've noticed things. Symptoms of PTSD. Torture victims." she said extremely quietly, looking into my eyes. I sighed. I knew she would notice.

"It really was a maze. But instead of just having maze, it was like I was being chased. There would be guards stationed at every passage, but the passages were always moving. So if I took out the guards in one place, it wouldn't matter because that passage would shift and be gone the next minute. And they were trying to catch me. When they did, and they almost always did, they would gang up on me. At least 50 at a time. It was some kind of psychological game to get me to break. I don't know. I'm fine now, so it's okay." I told her quietly.

She sighed. "Jase, you need to tell me these things. You're not fine, you're distracted. Trust me, when things get more heated, the memories will come flooding back and you won't be able to do anything about it and I can't handle seeing you like that. Okay?" she said.

"I know. I just don't want to put more on you than I have to." I said. She looked at me sternly.

"Well then I should've kept lots of things from you under that line of thinking. Your problems are just as important as mine are. And I don't care about whatever I'm going through. If you need me, I'll always be there. This can't be one sided." she told me. I looked away. I can't. I can't do what she wants me to do.

"Yes you can. You just don't want to. There's a difference." she said. I looked back into her green eyes, which were swirling with way too many emotions.

"I just- I don't want to put you under any more pressure." she glared at me.

"And I don't care. You're my best friend Jase. Even that's an understatement. You're practically a part of me at this point. Don't you dare ever think that your problems are a burden or that they're not important or that it's too much pressure on me. Because it's not. It never has been, nor will it ever be." she told me, her eyes burning intensely.

I didn't respond. Mostly because I had no idea what to say. She leaned up and kissed me. I kissed her back, and she deepened it slightly.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and I pulled her closer. We were kissing for a long time before we pulled away for air. We really don't need that much oxygen in our lungs in order for us to breath. It's part of the serum I guess.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Don't be." she replied, kissing me again, harder this time.

(LATER, STEVE POV)

"Steve? I'm going to go check on Jade and Jason. They usually don't sleep this long." Natasha told me.

"I'll go. You did it last time." I said, getting up.

"Alright." She replied. I walked down the hall and knocked on the door. I didn't get a response so I opened it.

What I saw is something I never want to see again. Ever. So I silently shut the door again and walked away, my face heated up.

When I got back, Natasha gave me curious look. "So?"

"They're up." I said.

"What are they doing?" she asked. I went redder and she laughed.

"Steve, you know they're legally adults?" she pointed out, smirking.

"Since when do we care about the law?" I muttered. She laughed again.

"You've been in this time period for almost as long as you were in the 40s Steve. When are you going to get used to them doing these things before marriage? We did it too you know." she told me.

"I don't have anything wrong with it. It's just strange. Just yesterday she was a little kid." I said.

She grinned. "Awwww, Steve."

"What?" I asked.

"You love our kids so much. It's cute." she replied, giving me a cheeky smile.

"same to you, ms. World's best assassin." I said.

"Oh please. I'm still the world's best assassin. The only other option is Clint and I'm better than him any day. Maybe X is in for the running, but she's third place." she informed me.

"Okay Natasha. Whatever you say." I said, smiling wryly. She hit my arm lightly.

"What's that face for?" she asked me.

"You're going soft. Not that I care. Just thought you should know." I said.

She huffed. "I am most definitely not going soft." she said indignantly.

"Yeah see, if I had said that a few years ago you would've punched me." I said.

"Whatever. I stopped doing that because I found it useless." she replied.

"See, you would've punched me then too."

"Stop being right. It's annoying." She muttered, although her eyes were twinkling.

(JASON POV)

We finally decided to get up a few minutes ago. It instead of how we usually do it, both of us going to our rooms to get ready for the day, we stayed together the entire time. Mostly because Red still needs assurance that I'm not disappearing on her.

I wish she didn't though. It's just not fair. I sighed and held on to her hand tighter. "Hey Red?" I asked. She looked at me.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember when we decided to lock down our parents because they had gone on a mission and gotten hurt?"

"Of course. One of my fondest memories." she said, smirking.

"I have the feeling that the situation is going to get reversed right now." I said.

"I know. But it won't be that bad right? And besides, I don't think that they can keep us anywhere really." she replied.

"Right." I muttered.

"We'll be fine Jase. I promise." she said. I nodded warily and we walked into the common room where a few people were.

And I see that small differences in everyone's behaviors. I don't know exactly what happened while I was gone, but I do know the basic jist of it. And their reactions are pathetic.

They're all just behaving as though Red will explode at any given moment. And she won't. They're overreacting.

I sighed and we sat down. The older group tenses, and that includes Nat and Eddie. And the younger group just looks at her concerned. Very concerned.

I gave Nat a look and she looked away. I rolled my eyes irritatedly. The only people who weren't acting any differently were Elliot, Dianna, and Juliana, and I know they saw the changes too.

Elliot and I shared a look before I glanced at Red, just to see how she was handling this. The others were engaged in conversation and she was talking to Alana.

Alana was acting relatively normal but she looked like she was treading lightly in the conversation. But she didn't feel fear. She felt concerned and sad for her.

Elliot came and sat next to me. "So. You have got some nerve, disappearing for two weeks." He said, giving me a look.

I shrugged, grinning. "I think I was getting tired of some people around here. Or one person really. His name starts with an 'e' and ends with a 't'. You might know him actually." I said causally.

"Nah. Never heard of him. He sounds like a pretty great guy though." Elliot said, grinning as well.

"You guys are so immature." Red muttered in my ear. I smirked.

"Yup." I said.

"Awwww cmon. I get that you two love each other and all that, but could you maybe not be all cute all the time?" Elliot asked exasperatedly.

"Cute? Did you, Elliot Garner, just say something was cute?" I asked incredulously.

"Hey, I think Lana and Di are affecting me too much. And besides, you two are probably the cutest thing that's ever happened in this tower."

"Awww. Elliot does have a heart." Alana said, smirking.

"Shut up." He muttered. Alana laughed.

"You know Elliot, I think you two are the cutest sibling rivalry." Red said. He grimaced.

"No. If I'm going to be called 'cute', at least don't make me paired with her." he said.

We continued our conversation and after a while I glanced at Red. She was staring intensely at a wall. I know that face.

She only looks like that when she's deep in thought, brooding almost. I nudged her shoulder lightly. "You okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah." She replied, her voice sounding very small, not looking at me.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I guess so." she said, her voice still sounding quiet and unsure. I sighed. She won't say anything now.

I know that she always wraps her arms around her stomach when she feels threatened or nervous. And that's exactly what she's doing now. It's another habit she made as a result of that terrible place. Like how she rarely sleeps without remaining conscious of everything going on around her. I'm surprised she doesn't wake up when I shift in the slightest at night.

But the worst part is that I know that she feels unsafe in this tower at the moment.

"Hey. Jason? You there?" Elliot asked.

"What? Oh. I zoned out. Sorry." I said, turning back to him. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Okay. Did you hear anything I just said?" he asked.

"Not really." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Typical." he said. "Anyway, I was trying to ask you about that fire stuff." He said. When he saw my expression, he backtracked. "Sore subject? Let's not."

"Nah. It's fine. Remember when Red got her telekinesis? Well, I got the power then. And apparently she noticed it, but didn't say anything. Naomi and Robert figured it out last year. And I still haven't really figured out how to control it." I said. He looked at me seriously. And Elliot doesn't do serious.

"You might want to get on that. No, you have to figure that out." he said.

"I know. There's just no time." I said. He looked at me.

"What were you doing for two hours this morning? You sure as hell weren't sleeping." he said in a hushed tone.

My face went red. "How did you?"

"The walls are not soundproof Jason. And my room just happens to be right above hers." he replied with another eyeroll.

I blushed even harder. "Anyway Jason. My point. You have plenty of time." he told me.

"Oh you're not one to talk Elliot. We _all_ hear the things you and Di do. You two are loud." Red said from the other side of me, smirking.

It was his turn to blush. "That's besides the point." he said.

"Is it? The walls are not soundproof Elliot." Alana said nonchalantly, examining her nails.

"What about you and Tanner?" Elliot asked. "As much as it sickens me to think of it, you two are not totally innocent either."

"Yeah. But nobody hears us. I made a soundproofing device." Tanner said from the other side of Elliot, grinning smugly.

"Well, then who do I always hear coming from the left of me? Lana's room is right next to mine, so who's room is on the other side of her's? Naomi."

"Hey! Don't get me involved. We've only done it three times. We don't have time for that like you all seem to." she sniped.

"Huh. I don't know then. Who could it be? Johnny and Sarah are both on the other side of me. Nat and Eddie are on the floor beneath. And it's not our parents either. They're on the other end or the floor. That leaves-"

"Jack and Juliana." everyone said simultaneously, turning their heads to look at their younger teenagers.

They turned red. "It's not us!" They refuted at the same time.

"Don't lie. I can read your minds. It's you." Red deadpanned. They looked away sheepishly. Red glared at Jack.

"Please don't kill him Jade. It wasn't really completely his fault." Juliana said lightheartedly. But nobody else took it that way. They had all tensed up. Red noticed, I knew that, but she didn't appear to care.

Everyone else, including my sister, was giving her wary looks, to which she returned calmly, not even bothering to respond. How can she even do that? I know it hurts her. But she hides it.

She always hides it. But I'm not good at that. It physically pains me, because I see the little signs.

How her shoulders tense slightly. Her arms tighten around her stomach, her confident gaze wavers. Nobody else can see these things, but I do. I glared at everyone around the room. It was dead silent in the room where it had been buzzing with conversation.

I can't sit here in this situation, not when everyone else is being like this. I grit my teeth, biting back a rude comment. I could feel myself heating up. I stood up and stormed out before anything else happened. I could hear Red following me out.

(ELLIOT POV)

I followed them out silently, hiding behind a door. Jade didn't seem like she cared at about how everyone else was acting, but Jason did.

"Jase, what's going on?" I heard Jade ask him.

"I know you've noticed it. The way they look at you, and how they tense up. And i can't deal with that." he said.

"Of course I've noticed it. I can hear their thoughts, every little thing they do or say or think about me, I hear it. But I don't care. They can think whatever they want. As long as you and I are okay, I will never care." she said.

"But I do. I do care. And maybe I shouldn't. But they can't do that. You're still the same person you used to be."

"But I'm not. I'm not the same person I used to be. And you're not either. When you were gone- I lost it. Completely. I attacked Fury of all people, gave him a black eye and a bruised jaw. I almost slit your sister's throat. It's kind of hard for them to unsee that."

"Well I don't care. They have no right to judge. Put any of them through half of what you went through and they'd crumble." he said. He's right too, I know that we would all be completely incapable of handling that.

"So what? We have no control over it. We don't have control over a lot of things in our lives." she said.

"Oh I know. I can't even control this fire the majority of the time. It doesn't help that it's so destructive all the time." he muttered.

I leaned over slightly so I could see them, but they couldn't see me.

Jason looked very angry, angrier than I've ever seen him in my life. Jade was completely unfazed by this though, looking at him completely calm. They were speaking so quietly at this point that I couldn't hear them. Then suddenly Jason burst into flames. He was completely engulfed in fire, and the pain radiating off of him almost knocked me over. But yet again, Jade didn't even blink.

"I can't do it. Not when it involves you. I don't lose control if it's me that's getting hurt or anything. I only lose control when you get hurt. When something happens to you. That's what I wasn't telling you on the plane. I didn't want you to feel guilty, like you do now. When I was there, they somehow had this serum of some sort. It shows you your worst fears and mine, all of them involved you. Every last one. That's where the bruises on my back came from. I- I can't control any of it." he said, his voice breaking near the end, getting quieter and quieter.

Jade put her hands on his face. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. You're home now and okay. I'm not letting you get away from me ever again, okay? Never." And then she kissed him.

I sucked in a breath as something crazy and insane happened. She too lit on fire but nothing happened to her. She wasn't getting burned like I expected.

The two of them were standing in the middle of the room, literally on fire, as they kissed, and the floor beneath them had a ring of ash surrounding them. The flames had turned blue and white, meaning it was warmer than your typical campfire. And the fire spread quickly.

My eyes widened as it reached me, thinking it would most definitely burn me to death, unable to speak. But I was shocked when it left me totally unharmed, and it was cool. It wasn't hot like I expected.

And then it spread past me and everyone rushed out only to see what I saw and feel what I felt. And they were just as surprised as I was when they were totally unharmed. The flames flickered lightly around everyone as they looked at each other in shock, then at the two figures in the center. They were almost indiscernible at this point, looking like one hazy black silhouette.

Then they became two silhouettes, and the fire died down, revealing them in the center. They glanced at us, then left.

"What just happened?" Alana asked.

"I have no idea. How is it possible that fire could not burn us?" Di asked.

` "I don't know what it was. It was awesome though." Tanner said.

"Yeah. I had no idea Jason could do that." Johnny said.

"Me neither." Nat added.

"I don't think any of us did. I don't think we have any semblance of an idea about anything when it comes to them." Eddie said.

We all looked at him and he shrugged. "I know every detail about every agent that works for SHIELD, but not those two." he said.

(JADE POV)

"Do you know what just happened there?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"No idea. But hey, that could've been worse." I said.

He looked at me. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting strange. I mean, one minute you're fine, the next minute you're not." He said. I shrugged.

"I'm fine." I replied, not looking at him. Thankfully he left it alone. I don't really know what's wrong with me even if I were to tell him.

I guess I'm kind of a hypocrite. I told him that he's not okay, just distracted. And what am I? I'm not okay either. I'm just pushing it off to the side.

"Where to now?" he asked.

"I don't know. How about we go out somewhere? I've been stuck here for two weeks." I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." he said. I sighed and we headed for the garage.

"Jase?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Yeah?"

"How did that feel? I mean, the blue fire. I'm trying to figure out how that's even possible. It touched everyone but hurt nobody. In fact, it even healed some of their long time injuries. Also, my hand sealed up just like that. The wound had reopened a few days ago, but it's just a faded scar now. The bruises on your back don't hurt you anymore." I said. He stopped in his tracks.

"What are you saying?"

"I think that the blue fire can heal, Jase. That's what I'm saying." I told him. He looked at me unsurely.

"But then how come every other time I lost control it was harmful fire?" he asked.

"I think that this time you accepted it. You didn't have this fear of hurting anyone, so you just let it free. And then that happened. All the other times it was fueled by anger and negative emotions, but that time it wasn't. I don't know exactly what you were feeling, but it was positive." I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked me, and I saw hope in his dark eyes. And I despise hope most of the time, but this time it's not such a bad thing.

"I'm pretty sure. I mean, this is the first time it's ever happened, so I don't know." I said.

He looked at me. "Thanks." he said quietly. I smiled and pecked him on the lips.

"I didn't do anything. Let's go." I said, seeing as we had just reached the car.

We got in the driver's seat and I turned on the car on. I personally enjoy driving. It gives me this sense of freedom that I don't often get. I brushed some hair behind my ear and we took off.

"So. Where to?" I asked. He looked at me and shrugged.

"I don't care. I'm cool with anything." he said.

"Well then at least give me some options." I said, looking at him.

"We could just go to the park and walk around. We already ate so that's not an option." He suggested.

I smiled. "Sounds good to me." I remember all the times we would play on the playground there and just hang out.

Those are some of my best memories honestly. I remember how at the top of the yellow slide there was a large platform that was girls only. If a boy tried to get up there we would push them down the slide.

So many things happened there. That's where Jase and I had our very first kiss when we were six. It's also where I realized I had a crush on him when I was ten. In fact, it's where I learned what a crush was.

I smiled slightly thinking about that. My naivete astounds me to this day. It's also where I got my period for the first time. My god. I remember the exact swing where it happened.

As we got closer the memories flooded me even more. I remember how our parents would drive us there at least once a week. We would all pile in the car and break several safety regulations while doing it too. Sometimes Nat and Eddie would take us too.

"Red. You just passed two red lights. What's up?" Jase asked, looking at me curiously.

"Oh. Whoops. I was just thinking. Do you remember when we had our first kiss here?" I asked.

"Of course I remember. I was so confused." he said, smiling.

"Mmhmm. I don't even know why I did it. I think I just decided to screw it and just go for it." I said, laughing a little.

"Yeah. Do you remember when Tanner realized he liked Alana and then Naomi tried to get them together by any means possible?"

"Oh yeah. She pranked all of us while doing it too. Remember the foil prank? She foiled the entire hallways. Ours and the one right above us, leaving a section from the elevator straight to her room. And her room is right in front of the elevator too." I said.

"I think the grease one was worse." he said, smiling. That's right, I had forgotten about that one. She had taken oil and put it on every doorknob in the tower except for the one on her door.

"That one was pretty bad. Do you remember when she messed with my mom's shampoo so it dyed her hair blond? She was furious." I added.

"Yeah. Didn't Tanner once put red food dye into Eddie's body wash? Eddie looked like a tomato for weeks!"

"Oh that was hilarious. I think he also bought his dad the entire Ironman merchandise collection." I remembered. We were laughing hysterically at this point.

When we eventually stopped, we looked around. "Uh, where are we?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I have no idea. JARVIS? Where are we?" he asked.

"You are about 24 miles northwest of your destination." JARVIS replied.

We looked at each other. "Okay. Let me park and then we'll figure this out." I muttered, parking in the nearest parking lot.

"How did we end up so far away?" I asked myself, looking at the GPS and where we're supposed to be.

"I don't know. You just weren't paying attention." he said.

"Me? You weren't paying attention either." I said.

"I wasn't the one driving." he pointed out, smirking. I rolled my eyes.

"But you're riding shotgun." I retorted.

"Mmhmm. Just face it. We're lost." he said.

"Please. I found my way to New York City from some deserted area in Australia. I think I can drive us back there." I muttered.

"Here. I think we have to go that way then that way onto that street and-"

"No. That's the most inefficient route possible. We might as well just run home. We'll be there by the time this GPS finishes calculating." I muttered. "Uncle Tony can make all these crazy things, but he can't make a functional GPS?" Jase laughed.

"Don't laugh at me." I said. He continued and I looked at him, slightly frustrated. Not with him, but with this annoying car.

"I'm sorry. It's just, you're forgetting something. JARVIS is installed in all of the cars. Which means-"

"DUH! I'm so stupid. Oh my god." I said, mentally chiding myself.

"Could you maybe possibly let me finish a sentence?" he asked me, looking and sounding very amused.

"You're still laughing at me." I accused.

"You're pretty funny when you get frustrated like this." he told me, grinning. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Stop trying to bother me and help." I told him. He laughed.

"Okay okay I get it." he said, smiling. Within a few minutes we got the GPS rerouted.

"Finally." I said, my back hitting the seat. I looked at him. "You can drive this time." I said. He laughed.

"Sounds good to me." We got out and switched seats, then buckled our seatbelts and started moving again. "So. Do you still want to go to the park? It's pretty late. We could just go home." he suggested.

"No. We did not just go through all of this not to go to the park. It could be midnight for all I care." I huffed.

He laughed again. "I don't really care either. It's our parents I'm worried about." he said. I shrugged.

"Too bad for them. We're legal adults. And besides, I forgot my phone." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"But maybe we should still call them. My phone's in my pocket" he said, giving me a look.

Fine fine." I relented. He smiled slightly and I called my mom, putting her on speaker.

"JADE ELIZABETH ROGERS WHERE ARE YOU?!" she yelled over the phone. "AND WHERE IS YOUR PHONE?"

"Okay mom chill. Jase and I took one of the cars. We meant to go to the park but ended up getting sidetracked. We'll be home later." I said.

"You didn't answer my question." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"My phone is in my room, probably on the dresser or something. I don't know. I don't keep track of that thing." I said.

"You're in so much trouble when you get home young lady." she said. I rolled my eyes again.

"Okay mom. Love you, bye." I said, then hung up. Jase glanced at me and I smirked.

"You're a much better driver than I am." I noted. He grinned.

"You only just noticed?" he asked.

"Wow. I'm offended." I said, placing my hand on my heart in mock hurt.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" he asked me.

"Please. It would take a lot more than a car crash to kill us." I said, smiling.

"True." he said. "It would be kind of pathetic if we survived all this other stuff and died in a car crash."

I laughed at that. "Yeah it really would be. Also, it would make my mom right."

"Oh no. We wouldn't want that, would we?" He asked sarcastically.

"This is a serious matter. A lot is on the line here." I said, giving him a look.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Like what? Your ego?" he asked. I hit his arm lightly.

"You're so mean Jase. So mean." I told him.

Suddenly he frowned. "You know I didn't mean it right?" I asked, looking at him amused.

"No no. The car is making a weird sound. I'm going to pull over." He said. I groaned and slammed my head back on the seat.

"I swear, if we have to push this car again . . ." I muttered, getting out with him.

Then the car stopped. "I guess we're pushing it." he muttered.

"Wait, you have your phone right? That's a long way to push a car." I said. He pulled it out and groaned.

"Out of battery." he said. I groaned too.

"We are going to have a talk with Uncle Tony about building better cars." I said. "Well, on the bright side, at least it's not-"

Suddenly rain started to pour down. "-raining." I finished.

"You jinxed it." He informed me.

"I hate this car." I muttered, then began to push. Between Jase and I, this car was easy to push, almost like pushing a chair instead of a car. But we're still very far from home.

"So much for going to the park. You know what? Why don't we ditch this craptastic car and just walk home?" He suggested.

"Fine by me. Wait a minute though. We have to get JARVIS uninstalled. Otherwise anybody could use it." I said, working at the mechanics with my brain. "Kay done." I said.

We started walking, and we probably looked ridiculous to all the cars passing us by. We were soaked and walking along the side of the road.

"Do you remember the last time we did this? I think they rig the cars to break down when we don't have permission to leave." I theorized.

He smirked. "Yeah. That could be possible. Or uncle tony just doesn't know how to build a car."

"Didn't his dad invent the car or something?" I asked.

He looked at me incredulously. "That was Henry Ford. Not Harold Stark." he said. I shrugged.

"Same thing." I muttered, trying to keep semi warm. Jase didn't look any better. At least I was wearing long sleeve. He was just wearing a short sleeved t-shirt. I moved closer to him, trying to do what penguins do. Huddle.

"Why does this always happen?" he asked, his teeth chattering. I shrugged.

"No idea. Also, why are we cold? We have the serum in us. We shouldn't get cold." I said.

"Maybe because we're wet. So it's not that cold outside, it's just that since we're wet and the wind from the cars moving so fast is blowing on us too, we feel cold." He said.

"But the serum alters our nerve receptors. So we wouldn't have the normal responses, like our teeth chattering, as they are now, or shivering, unless it's internal." I said.

He groaned. "We can still get sick can't we?" He asked.

"Oh god. That's the last thing we need." I said. "You're probably right though. I hate getting sick."

"I know right?" He muttered. "Can we just not? Hopefully it's just a cold and nothing more."

"Hopefully." I said. We were passing the park now, which means we're almost home. Then suddenly I saw something. Something dreadfully familiar.

I pulled Jase down to my height, using a trick that my mom taught me a while ago. Our lips were almost touching but not quite.

"Hydra 5:00." I said and he discreetly found them before looking back at me. And then I kissed him. He was very confused but went with it anyway.

When I pulled away he raised an eyebrow at me. "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." I said, smirking. He smirked back and we started running, bolting away from there as fast as we could.


	12. Alana Garner

**Hi guys! Next chapter! So I've decided that the new story is going to be titled "Agent X". I know, not very original, but I couldn't think of anything better. If you guys have any ideas let me know. You can PM me or leave it in the reviews. So yeah! I almost have that first chapter done, so it'll probably be today or tomorrow that it'll go up. Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

Stupid Hydra. Haven't they done enough? Nobody is asking for their assistance in making our life more difficult. And of course we're unarmed with no way of contacting people for backup.

Well, I have a way, but by the time they got here it would be too late. But I decided to go for it anyway. At least we'll get a ride home.

 _Alana. Get weapons and get in the plane. I'm going to set JARVIS from here. We're being tailed by Hydra._

I told her all this telepathically. I told her because logically she's the most put together, get it done, do the job, kind of person in these situations. She gets it from her mom. I would've contacted Elliot, but if he leaves without any notice, Di will probably freak. Tanner gets used to it. Elliot will probably wonder, but he'll just trust her.

I grimaced as I glanced back and saw them on motorcycles, gaining on us.

"We can't keep running. We're fast but not that fast." Jase told me.

"I know. Alana is coming with backup." I replied.

"She won't get here in time." he said.

"Dumb hydra." I muttered. "We have to fight back. Let's see. 20 of them versing us. I think we can handle it."

"No. They have inhibitors. If they manage to get them on us, well, we won't be able to fight." he said.

"Shoot. Okay, we have to go faster." I said, and we ran further. All the cars on the road pulled over as we ran in the middle of the street, trying to throw off our chasers.

"Jase. They're not going to spare these innocent people. We have to face them now. Alana will be here soon." I said, looking at him.

"You're right. Okay. Just avoid the inhibitors at all cost." He said, looking me dead in the eyes. I nodded and we stopped running, turning around. I stopped their motorcycles abruptly, causing them to flip off. But being the unfortunately skilled people they are, they tucked and rolled.

I cursed under my breath and we continued fighting them from afar. As I saw one of them throwing an inhibitor I dicked and pulled Jase with me.

We rose quickly and watched them, trying to use our powers to stop them. I tried to knock them out using their weapons. And I tried to get some to us, but only succeeded in getting us each two guns. We were getting overpowered quickly. We usually would've had all these people disabled, but we were trying to not hurt the innocents. They didn't care.

We kept fighting until they got within close enough proximity where we could use our other powers, mental powers, to try and throw them off.

We took several of them down, but we couldn't keep this up for long. I told Alana to come faster, but I don't know how much faster she can get. It's late, probably midnight, but we're on the highway, and we can't risk hurting any of these people.

Then I had an idea. "Jase. Follow me." I said, and we quickly ran out of the way.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Just trust me. We have to get away from all the people." I said back. He nodded and we continued running, pelting through the grass at crazy speeds, trying to get away from the actual highway.

"Okay. I need you to do something. Just let go of the fire." I said.

"What? But I can't control it. I won't be able to stop it. What if something else happens?" he said, immediately against it.

"Nothing else is going to happen. I'm right here, I won't let you lose control. Please, just try. They'll be close enough soon." I said., looking in his eyes.

He sighed. "Fine." And then it happened. His hands lit on fire and he aimed at the first guy coming down the hill and it scorched him. Quite literally. And the fire just kept coming, spreading around. It was completely covering me at this point, but it doesn't hurt me. And one by one they all fell down.

Then it all just disappeared, just as quickly as it started. I walked through the burnt grass up to Jase.

"You did it. I told you so." I said, smiling.

"Yeah. I actually controlled it kind of." He said.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing. That just took a lot of energy." He said. Just then the quinjet landed in front of us and Alana came out, looking at us.

"So. I see you had it covered." she said, smirking slightly.

"Well, no." I said.

"You don't know the half of it." Jase muttered.

"Okay. Tell me in the plane. I just got my hair recolored and this rain is not doing it any favors." She said. We laughed.

And then we took all of the hostages back on the plane and cuffed them to the side before taking off towards home. We were both very wet and our shirts were basically see through at this point because of it. I was wearing a very light blue shirt and Jase was just wearing plain old white.

So now you can basically see my white bra through the shirt and you can see Jason's entire torso. So this is fun. I sighed and grabbed one of the spare blankets from the top of the plane and brought it back to where we were sitting, wrapping it around myself and offering Jase the other half. He took it and we sat there shivering under the blanket, our bodies pressed against each other's to try and conserve heat.

"You guys okay back there?" Alana asked.

"Y-yeah." I said, my teeth chattering.

"So what were you guys even doing out there?" She asked. Either she's oblivious to our plight or she just doesn't care. More likely it's the latter option.

"Well, we needed to get away. So we were going to go to the park but we got distracted talking about Tanner and Naomi and their pranks, so Red ended up driving us 2; miles further than we had to. And then I started driving. Uncle Tony and I need to talk, because right after that the car broke down so we got out and started pushing. Eventually we gave up and left the car, just walking in the rain. Then we spotted hydra. And here we are." Jase explained.

"Hm. You would think that Uncle Tony would be able to build a functioning car." she said sarcastically.

"I KNOW." We said in unison. We all laughed.

"Wait, Elliot is calling me. I'm putting him on video." she said.

"Hey Ellie." She said, smiling and waving to her older brother.

"Where did you go?" He asked, ignoring her greeting.

"What, no hi?" She said, smirking. He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Lana. Mom is this close to grounding you for the rest of your life." He said. She laughed.

"Okay okay. Well you see, Jade and Jason needed me to pick them up because my boyfriend's dad is incapable of buildings functional car. Oh yeah, and hydra was chasing them." She said nonchalantly.

"Alana . . ." He groaned. "So you just left without telling anybody?"

"Yes. They do it all the time." She defended, pointing at us.

"Wait a minute. Are you two shivering? And wet?"

"How observant of you Elliot." Jase said dryly, his teeth still chattering.

"But I thought you guys couldn't get cold." He said.

"Me too. Can you get my dad? He's kind of the resident expert on this super soldier stuff." I said. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Jade, where have you been?" He asked. I sighed.

"I'll tell you when I get home. Can you explain why we're shivering and all that?" I asked. He shrugged.

"You can get cold if you're wet. Just not if it's wind or temperature." he said. Jase looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"I was right." He told me.

I elbowed him lightly. "Shut up." He laughed.

"I was right. I'm going to hold that against you forever now." He said, grinning.

"I hate you." I muttered.

"No. You love me. You hate being wrong." he told me.

"Whatever." I muttered again, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Ehem. Lovebirds. There are other people here." Tanner said, looking at us through the video.

"Go away." I said.

"Okay. Jeez." Tanner said. "I know you're in love with each other, but you don't see Alana and I being all lovey dovey all the time." He said.

"You two are in love with each other?" Jase asked them, smirking.

"Ummmmm. I think my mom was calling me." Tanner said, leaving.

"WIMP!" Alana called after him.

"Sorry Lana! This one's on you." We heard him call back, his voice fading as he got further away. We laughed.

"He's such a wimp." Alana told us, smiling.

"So. You're hair is teal and blue now?" I asked her.

"Yup. I thought I needed a change from the purple, pink, and blue." She said.

"Well then. I see you also changed your many piercings to silver." I mentioned.

"Duh. Blue and teal only work with gold under certain instances. Silver works better." She said.

"I know what you mean. I gave up on earrings though. I mean, my piercings are still good, oddly enough, but I always forget to put them in. And they don't work for fighting." I said.

"Oh yes they do! So basically the ones I wear have a very ergonomic design. Practical too. They won't get caught on anything Adam they're coated in a shiny clear glass like material that prevents them from being pulled in by a magnet. They also won't get pulled off of you because the clasps are extra durable." She said.

"Oh wow. I need to get myself a pair." I said. "Do you know if I can get any in rose gold?" I asked.

"Totally. I'll lend you one of my piercings." She said.

"Girls." Jase muttered. I looked at him.

"I'll have you know that I'm not a very girly girl in general. You're lucky." I told him.

"True. But really? Earrings?" he asked. I chose to ignore him.

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't gotten a lip piercing yet." I told Alana.

She laughed. "That's where my parents draw the line. Besides. I feel like that would make kissing really weird."

I laughed. "Yeah. It probably would. Actually, it would be really uncomfortable. I mean, what if you cut your tongue on it? Or if the guy cut their tongue on it?" I said. Alana laughed.

"Is this what girls normally talk about?" Jase asked me.

"No. We're just trying to make you uncomfortable." I told him, smiling.

"Back on topic." Alana said, smirking.

"Right. What do you think about belly button piercings?" I asked her. She smirked.

"Come up here and I'll tell you." I smirked and got up, walking to the front. She lifted up her shirt slightly, still keeping her eyes on the sky, and I saw it. It's small, nothing too flashy, but she has one.

"There." She said. I laughed.

"So what does Tanner think about all this?" I asked her. She smirked again.

"Oh he loves it. I'll tell you all about it some other time." she said, grinning at me. I smirked back.

"We have to have another girls night soon." I said, grinning back.

"Totally. I can't wait. Oh my god. We can embarrass Dianna so much. And I can use whatever I learn to harass my brother. This is a win win situation!" She said excitedly. "Okay, go buckle up." She said, calming down slightly.

"Okay." I said, going back to sit next to Jase.

He looked at me tiredly. "So what do you guys talk about at girls night?" He asked me warily.

"It's confidential information." I said, smirking slyly.

"Oooookaaaay then. I don't want to know." He muttered, looking at me skeptically.

Alana glanced back at me and winked. "So Jason. What do you think of lip piercings? I need a guy's opinion." She asked him.

"I don't know. Nor do I care." He said, looking in between us as though one of us was going to grow another head or something.

"You've got to have some idea." I told him.

"I don't know. Wouldn't it be kind of uncomfortable?" he said.

"Mmhmm. Okay Alana. We should stop now. I think _he's_ just a little uncomfortable." I said.

She laughed. "Isn't that what friends are for? To embarrass your boyfriend?" she said innocently.

"Yup. Basically. Oh, speaking of. We have to go to the mall soon. I need new bras and stuff." I said. Jase went red and buried his face in his hands.

"Oh yeah. We'll go. Maybe Sarah can tag along." She said.

"I don't need to know." Jase grumbled, not looking at us.

We laughed and continued our conversation. "So yeah. It's so weird though. They're so expensive. I mean, they're literally small pieces of cloth." Alana said.

"I know. It's such a hinderance. What kind do you usually get?" I asked her.

"I have a whole variety. I need to teach you these things. Oh young grasshopper, you have missed much. You've been so busy saving people that you didn't bother to be a girl." She told me.

I laughed. "I know. I'm so ridiculous aren't I?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes. Yes you are." She replied seriously. "Have I explained to you the science behind your bra color?"

"No." I said. "Tell me." I said, grinning evilly.

"Maybe later. Jason looks ready to jump off the plane." she joked.

"I am." Jase said, dead serious.

"Aww. Don't be like that. I was teasing you. You know we usually don't do this? Well, she does. But most girls don't." I said, smiling. He looked at me.

"Just stop. Please. This is torture. And I've experienced real torture. This is twenty times worse. This is embarrassing on top of painful." He said.

"Jase. It's not THAT bad. I mean, we were only talking about bras. You've seen them before. You have a sister and a girlfriend. If you said you hadn't seen one before, well, I know for a fact that you have." I said, smirking.

He flushed, glaring at me. I smiled innocently and he rolled his eyes.

"Please tell me we're almost home." He grumbled. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Whatever. You're just being grumpy." I told him.

"I'm hungry and tired." He grumbled. "And you two have made it your personal mission to irritate me in as many ways as possible."

"I do it because I love you. She does it because she's Alana and that's what she does." I said.

"Mmhmm. You love me? Right." He said sarcastically.

I pecked him on the lips. "Yup." I said cheerily.

"Okay, we're here." Alana said, getting up and walking out.

"Thanks for coming." I said. She smiled.

"Any time. This was the most excitement I've had in ages." She said, smirking.

"Yeah. Okay. We're going to head to bed now. See you later." I said.

"Okay." she said. Jase and I walked upstairs.

We were both exhausted. I mean, walking home in the rain and fighting hydra tends to do that to a person.

We went into my room, mostly because I have a better mattress than he does, and went to sleep. And for the first time in a while I wasn't worried about nightmares.

(JASON POV)

Shoot. How am I supposed to explain the nightmares? This is the first night I've slept since I've been back. She slept yesterday night, but I stayed up.

I haven't told her everything. And I really should've, but right now she's actually asleep and I'm too scared to fall asleep.

I'm terrified of what's going to come. I slept very little yesterday, and the entire time was filled with the bloody scenes of my worst fears, all being thrown at me.

I sighed and tried to keep my eyes open. I haven't slept, I mean, really slept, in a long time. And I'm so sleepy. Who knows? Maybe they won't come tonight.

I closed my eyes and let the dreams take me, even though I was scared of it.

 _It was dark in the room where we were standing. The room was dimly lit and had a terrible smell to it, splattered blood across the rooms._

 _It was the room in Australia. The room where I lost functionality in most of my body._

 _But that wasn't the worst part. The part that made my blood run cold. I was pressing a gun to Red's skull._

 _I couldn't move it away, I couldn't control my own appendages._

" _Jase. Why?" I heard her ask, but I couldn't control my words either. And I didn't respond. I could see the hurt flashing in her eyes, tear tracks staining her face, before I shot her._

 _And then with a bang, suddenly we were in another room, the air was cold but we were both breaking in a cold sweat. We were tied to chairs, facing each other, and I could see the strained look on her face as she looked at me in horror. I looked down to see blood gushing down my leg._

 _I looked back at her and a man suddenly appeared. Stringy brown hair and sinister green eyes, Mark Ronson. He gave me a smirk before stabbing an electric baton into her stomach. Her screams filled the room. I yelled at him to stop be he paid no heed. Her cries were bloodcurdling, until suddenly she stopped and slumped against the chair, blood pooling around her, a glazed look in her eyes._

And with that I woke up with a loud scream, bolting upright and looking around, not really taking in anything. I can't breath and it feels like the walls are closing in on me.

I felt her arms wrap around me and I could see her lips moving, hearing her voice, but I had no idea what she was saying.

"Jase, look at me." I heard her say, finally understanding. I looked at her, seeing that she wasn't covered in blood, she wasn't dead.

"You're okay now Jase. I'm right here." She said quietly. And then the tears started falling. I can't do this.

It's too much. They showed me all of my worst fears. And they're my worst fears for a reason.

And she was right. She told me that bottling up these things wouldn't end well. But then again she's usually always right and I just don't listen.

She told me that I had to talk about it. She told me to tell the truth. And I can't say that she doesn't understand because she does, without a doubt. even to this day I don't know the entirety of what happened to her that month in Australia.

And I know that sleeping in general is going to be nearly impossible. I know that trying to ignore it is not going to work. And now I know what's really wrong with me.

That serum showed me my worst fears over and over again, and I could do nothing to stop it. And even though I know that I would never in a million years hurt her, apparently I'm terrified of that.

I'm terrified of her getting hurt in general. Strangely enough, none of my worst fears involved me dying. Getting seriously hurt, maybe, but it was always her that died.

And even in nightmares that has me completely shaken up, losing it really. So how she managed to go on for two weeks is beyond me.

That's why I understand what she did and why she did it. Almost slitting Nat's throat, I know why she did what she did. As much as I hate to say it, Nat crossed the line.

And that line was pushed as far as it could go, because I get it. She's my sister. Of course she would be shaken up if I died. But that wasn't an excuse to tell Red that she didn't care.

And I probably would have reacted the same way if I was in Red's position. And attacking Fury? I've wanted to do that so many times, especially after he lied to us and sent her on that mission, but refrained.

I could feel my breathing starting to ease up and my tears stopped coming. And I was glad for that, because it's been at least an hour.

"Jase? Are you going to be okay?" She asked me. I looked at her.

"Yeah." I said quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"We were in Alaska first. You know, there. And I had a gun pressed to your head and I shot. And I couldn't- I couldn't stop it. And then the second one was that guy, Mark Ronson, and he shot you." I said, not giving details because they're not necessary and I don't want to relive that.

"Jase, listen to me. I'm alive. I'm okay. And we both know you could never hurt me. We're both home, and we're doing alright, and we're together. And that's what matters." she told me. I smiled slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah you're right. I love you." I said.

"I love you too." she replied. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." I said quietly. She looked at me intensely. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. The sun's coming up." she said, changing the subject. I went with it, even though I knew what she was doing. "Which do you like better? Sunrises or sunsets? I like sunrises better personally.

"I don't know. I've never paid attention to them before." I said, shrugging. "Is there a difference?" I asked, looking at her.

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Boys." she muttered, shaking her head disappointedly.

"Hey, at least we don't talk about our piercings and underwear." I pointed out. She laughed.

"Okay. I can't argue with that." she said, smiling.

"Did you just admit that you were, dare I say it? Wrong?" I asked her.

"Yeah yeah." she said, rolling her eyes.

"And then accept it? Who are you and what have you done with Red?" I asked her.

"I'm not always right." she said.

"Are you sure you're not sick or something?"

"I promise I'm not sick." she said, laughing. "I think you're overreacting." she told me. I shrugged.

"I don't think so. You never admit to being wrong unless it's something important." I told her.

"Are you implying that this issue is not important?" she asked me, looking scandalized.

"Well, yeah." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Boys." she muttered.

"You know that there are an equal number of boys and girls living here?" I asked her.  
She thought for a minute. "You're right. That's so weird. What are the chances that our parent's would all have kids that total out to have an even number or both genders."

"I don't know. Wouldn't it be strange though, if any one of these couples weren't in relationships with each other?" I asked.

"Oh totally. And if there was ever a love triangle, well, let's just say it would be really complicated. To be honest, since we were little, we all knew who was going to end up dating whom. Like, Dianna and Elliot were meant for each other, because Alana and Di are best friends, as different as they are, and Elliot is Lana's older brother, so they always hung out a lot. Sarah and Johnny were always going to end up together because they would both rather be doing some target practice than socializing. In both the literal and figurative sense, if you know what I mean." she said, smirking.

"Oh I know what you mean." I said, rolling my eyes.

"It's so much fun making you uncomfortable." she said, smiling.

"I'm glad you're amused by my suffering." I said dryly. She laughed.

"You're not _suffering_." she told me.

"Whatever you say Red."

"See? It's so much easier when you just accept that I'm right." she teased, smirking.

"Mmhmm. Sure. Except then you'll get a big head." I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Who, me?" she asked innocently. I laughed a little. After that we sat in comfortable silence, watching the sun rise together.

(JULIANA POV)

The sun is only just rising, but I can't sleep, so I decided it's just better to get up and go about my day than sit there trying to fall back asleep. I changed and washed up then walked downstairs.

Nobody else was awake yet, so I just grabbed an apple. I'm very worried about Jade and Jason. I don't know what that blue fire was.

Was it cool? Sure. Was it totally weird how that bruise I got during training just disappeared? Definitely. But what's even stranger is how is wasn't hot. It didn't burn us. And to be honest, the fact the Jason sets on fire when he gets angry is more than a little terrifying.

And Hydra was chasing them last night? What was that about? Why would they even leave the house? And getting distracted while driving? That's such an un-Jade-like thing to do. And why would JARVIS not tell them that they had missed their destination?

I sighed and tossed my apple up in the air. I remember the last time my sister and I actually hung out together normally. It must have been at least a few months ago. I miss it. We would laugh for hours on end, sharing little inside jokes that nobody else would understand.

Then I heard some noises right above me. Screams, but not scared screams, playful screams. It's my sister. Of course. They're going to wake everyone else in the tower up. I went to go do everyone a favor and make them quiet down, but decided to eat my apple first.

Then Jack came down, looking very tired. "Hey Ana." he said, grabbing a banana.

"Did they wake you up?" I asked amused.

"Yeah. What else? What are they even doing up right now? It's like 6 AM." he said, peeling the banana.

"I don't know. I've learned not to question it." I said. He smiled.

"Someone should tell them to quiet down." he said, chewing.

"First of all, chew with your mouth closed." I chastised.

"Sorry mom." he joked.

"Secondly, I was going to, but I'm going to eat my apple first." He smirked.

"We _could_ prank them. You know, be irritating children." he said.

"Jack . . . I think that sounds like a brilliant idea." I said, smirking back.

"Okay, what should we do?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I have a good plan." I said, then whispered it to him. He grinned wickedly and nodded. We split up to get the things we needed.

I walked up to the fourth floor and turned the doorknob to a storage closet. Inside I heard footsteps, barely discernable. I'm the only person on this floor. Jack is in the basement. My sister is on the fifth floor. Everyone else is either on the fifth or sixth floor. THe closest weapon is about 20 feet away from me.

I'm overreacting, it could just be nothing. I calmed my nerves and walked inside, grabbing what I needed as quickly as possible, at least until I heard breathing behind me. I turned and immediately was grabbed, a hand covering my mouth as I tried to scream.

I flipped them over onto their back and kicked their stomach, but I couldn't get a good look at their face. We were fighting for a while, and I had shouted for help many times, but then they somehow got ahold of an icer and shot me in the back. I fell, just as I heard my sister's voice calling my name.

(JADE POV)

I was running as fast as I could to find Ana. I had heard her yelling, and I could hear the thumps sounding like a fight was taking place.

But I was too slow. When I got there, there was nobody there, just a tranq gun, a GPS, and a note.

 _Jade Rogers, Jason Smith, if you ever want to see her again, you'll come by yourselves, unarmed, wearing power inhibitors, to the address programmed into the GPS._

 _P.S. Hail Hydra_

Is this some kind of sick joke? Nobody gets to hurt my baby sister. I looked at Jase, rage burning in my eyes. "Screw Hydra. We're getting my sister back." I said angrily.

I pulled the alarms and everyone rushed over here, most of them still in their pajamas. I looked at them all seriously and read the note aloud.

Everyone was shocked and angry by the end of it. "We're going to get her back before they get the chance to say their stupid mantra one more time." I said. Everyone, including the adults, looked deadly serious.

And that's when, as per usual, my dad started to take charge, telling everyone the plan of action. I felt dark and empty inside. NOBODY gets to hurt Juliana. Never.


	13. Hydra Sucks

**Hello friends! Sorry about that last cliffhanger . . . I mean, not really. It was kind of fun to leave you hanging. I know, I'm terrible. XD. But now you get to see some mother daughter fighting action, so that's fun. Also, Agent X is officially up! It's an extra long chapter for the intro. I hope you like it! :)**

(JADE POV)

I'm fuming and ready to hurt somebody. Specifically whatever idiot thought that they could kidnap my baby sister and get away with it. I swear, if they've hurt her at all, I will kill them. Slowly and painfully.

My dad told us to go do a fingerprint scan. Then we have to find the location and scout it. They want Jase's mom to get a visual on who took her, and they want me to try and figure out where exactly Juliana is based on her thoughts. So that's what I'm doing.

So right now, everyone's doing everything they can. Sarah is going in place of me, wearing a nanomask, and Robert is going in place of Jase. Sarah has her powers that they won't be expecting, and Robert can hulk out regardless of any inhibitors on him.

I looked around at everyone working furiously, several people preparing weapons and gear to bring, others loading planes, still others working with their powers or technology to find these idiots.

But then I saw one person with such a guilty expression on his face you would think that he was responsible for Ana's kidnapping, even though we all know it wasn't.

"Jack?" I asked. He looked at me. "We're going to find her. It wasn't your fault, it was Hydra's. So we're going find her and make those people pay. But right now you have to focus. Gear up. I'm leaving in 10 minutes." I said.

He nodded and left. "Who knew you could give pep talks?" Jase asked from behind me.

I turned around and looked at him. "I can be very motivational when I want to be." I said.

He smirked. "I know. Let's go get our stuff. My mom found her." He said.

I nodded and we quickly grabbed our stuff and got into the plane. Our team was me, Jason, my mom, and Jason's dad. We all got on and took off. "So where is she?" I asked.

"She's in a underground room. We're going to go find her, now." My mom said, her expression dark as she piled up a holographic map.

I have the strangest feeling that she and I look exactly the same at the moment.

"Mom and I are going in first. Jase, you and your dad are coming in second. We're going in through this entrance, taking out the guards and heading straight to where Ana will be. You guys are coming in through this entrance, find the person in charge and take people in." I said, taking charge. Everyone nodded.

"Okay. I have to make a call." I said, walking out, grabbing my phone.

"Dad?" I asked.

"Yeah? Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. We're fine. When you get there, tell Ward I said hello. And that I'm going to really kill him this time." I said darkly.

"Ward? Jade, he's dead."

"Nope. That was an imposter. He's alive and behind this." I said. He sighed irritatedly.

"Of course he is. We're about to land. Be careful. I love you. Give the phone to your mom." He said.

"I love you too. Mom? Dad wants to talk you." I said, handing the phone to her.

She spoke to him briefly before handing me the phone. "So? When were you planning on mentioning that Ward was alive?" She asked out loud.

"I knew dad would tell you. I didn't want them to get caught off guard. You yourself said that it didn't even look like Ward anymore. Because it wasn't. It was a replacement." I told them bluntly.

"We're landing now. We'll talk about this later." she said, looking at me pointedly. I shrugged.

"Okay by me." I said. "Now let's go. Jase, I'll give you the signal telepathically. Wait for it." I said. He nodded and looked at me seriously.

"Be careful." he said.

"I will. You too." I said. He smiled and we kissed briefly.

"Lovebirds! Quit it." My mom said from outside the plane. I looked at him, and shrugged.

"I'll see you soon." I said, following my mom.

We quickly walked into the building, our guns at the ready. I signalled to my mom. 5 armed guards. She nodded and we shot them, I gestured to Di to follow us. Unlike my dad, my mom has zero inhibitions about killing the enemy.

We walked in further and I gave Jase the signal. _Go. Now._ We walked further into the building, until suddenly we got surrounded.

I just disarmed them and aimed their own guns at them using my powers. "Where. Is. My. Sister?" I asked slowly, as though they didn't understand english.

"Vhy vould zhey tell you zhat?" asked a man with a thick russina accent, the guards making way. "Hello Natalia. Zhis is your daughter, no?" he asked.

I pointed my own gun with my hand at them. "You hurt both my mom and my sister? You've got some nerve." I said, my eyes burning with rage. And then I shot him. In the stomach where I knew he could still be interrogated, but it would still hurt like crazy. I shot all the guards before they could retaliate. I don't enjoy killing. I just don't mind doing it to these psychos that think kidnapping my family members is okay.

I punched him on the jaw, then kicked him in the ribs, basically using him as a punching bag. My mom was still standing frozen, which is really unlike her. I punched him hard on the head and he blacked out. I glared at his unconscious person before going up to my mom.

"Mom? Mom? Hello?" I asked her.

"How is he still alive?" she asked.

"What?"

"Steve killed him. Your dad, the guy who doesn't kill as a principle, shot him in the heart and I watched him die. So how the hell is he still alive?" she asked.

I looked into his thoughts. "They took serum out of my bloodstream and put it into him. It messed with his blood cells because we have a different blood type, so he's been sick for a while, but it healed his heart." I said darkly. She glared at him, cussing at him in Russian.

"C'mon. Let's go find Juliana." she said.

We walked further into the hall, and eventually we found her, she was tied up, gagged and she was adamantly shaking her head at us when we started to walk in. I looked into her thoughts but I was too late, because then the door slammed shut behind me.

She managed to get the gag out of her mouth and glared at somebody behind us. Without turning around I knew who it was. Ward.

Ana then proceeded to say some things I've never heard her say before, and the murderous look in her eyes was all too familiar. I made eye contact with her and told her what to do telepathically. Then, quick as lightning, I turned around and shot Ward. He ducked and the fight started.

"Let's see how good you are without your powers." he said, grinning. "You're just as good as everybody else. You would be nobody without your powers. The powers that _I_ gave you." he taunted, still fighting.

"I'm still more than good enough to beat you." I hissed, kicking him in the ribs, causing one of them to snap.

My mom then attacked him from behind, getting in his blind spot. Together we fought him, quickly gaining the upper hand. But then he aimed a gun at Juliana and we froze.

"Make another move and I shoot." he said, and we could tell he wasn't bluffing. "Now. Jade, put your hands up and you will cooperate. Otherwise she will die." he said.

"I thought we couldn't move. You can't have double standards." I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Just do it." he said.

"No. Then you'll shoot her." I said simply. He rolled his eyes.

"Do you not see the gun aimed at your little sister? Because I will shoot." he said.

"No you won't." I said smugly. "You want my cooperation? You let both of them go. Now." I said, smirking.

"You're in no position to make negotiations." he growled.

"Am I not? Because last I checked, you want my cooperation. Hurting either of them will not give you that." I said.

"There are always ways to force you." he said.

"Hmm. Well, you see, all of your guards are dead or captured. So no. There are three of us and one of you." I said, grinning.

"Are you crazy?" he asked me. "I will hurt everyone you care about if you do not cooperate." I tsked.

"Stop making promises you can't keep." I told him.

He moved closer to Juliana, pressing the barrel of the gun to her skull. Her eyes widened and she looked at me terrified. "Do as I told you. Or I pull the trigger." he said.

"Actually, it's technically pushing the trigger." I said snootily. "And like I said. You won't. Because that means you lose your leverage and we will both attack you." I said. Juliana had been working at the ropes as I distracted him and my mom has been slowly inching closer to her, ever so slightly. In truth, I'm riding on Jase. I had told him my back up plan once I realized that Ward was alive. And he knows what to do and how to do it.

I planned to come here and distract him, knowing we would be stuck in here without powers.

"I don't care what it's called. Now move." he said.

"No."

"I will shoot your mother."

"Try it. I will shoot you." I replied. "I'm sure I'm much faster than you, especially in your old age."

"MOVE." he growled.

I smirked. "Okay." and I moved straight to the side out of the path of the doorway and Jase opened it, blasting fire at him, not quite standing in the room. He used his other power to inflict loads of mental pain on him. I smirked.

"I told you that I would kill you." I hissed, shooting him. And then I shot again. And again. Just ot make sure he was okay. Then I rushed over to Ana.

My mom had already untied her. And I basically crushed her in a hug. "Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I got a little hurt from that fight back in the tower, but it'll go away in a few hours." she said.

"Okay. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'm fine. It was just kind of terrifying is all. He's a psycho." she said.

I laughed. "You only just noticed?" she smiled.

"Anyway. Can we go home now? This place gives me the creeps." she said. I nodded and we got up, leaving. I could I walked next to Jase.

"Thanks for coming." I said to him, smiling. He smiled.

"Anytime. But really, next time don't rely so much on chance." he said. I smirked.

"It wasn't relying on chance. I knew you would come exactly at the right time. Just like you always do." I said.

He stayed silent at that.

"We should check in with the other team. See if they got anything." he said. I nodded and we accessed the mission comms.

"Hey guys? How's it going?" I asked.

"We're on our way home." Sarah said.

"That was easier than we expected. I didn't even have to let the giant green guy out." Robert said.

"Yup. I blew stuff up!" Sarah said. We rolled our eyes.

"How about you guys?" we heard Aunt Skye ask.

"It was interesting. Red almost got herself killed." Jase said nonchalantly.

"Jase! You can't just say stuff like that. It's too believable." I said.

"For a good reason. You based your entire plan on the chance that freaking Ward would not kill your sister immediately! He's a psychopath." He said, giving me a pointed look.

"You did what?" My dad asked.

"I had no part in making this plan." My mom said.

"You're crazy." Uncle Lincoln told us.

"Officially insane." Juliana added.

"I thought you would have gotten some of my tactical skills." My dad said.

"Skills aren't inherited, as demonstrated here." Robert told everyone.

"Okay! I get it. I was being stupid. It worked, didn't it?" I said.

"This time." Everyone said in unison.

"Well too bad. I did it. It's tactical genius. And it wasn't really chance, because I knew his plan from the beginning." I pointed out.

"You're an idiot." Ana told me. "But thanks anyway." She said.

I smiled. "See? Somebody appreciates my intelligence." I joked. Jase gave me a look.

"Nobody's saying that you aren't intelligent. We're saying that you didn't use it." He corrected.

"We?" I questioned. "You included?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Yup." He said, smirking.

"Rude." I said, although I was smiling.

"If you two are going to make out, don't do it here." Juliana said, pushing us out of the room. We laughed.

"Okay, okay! We get it." I said, still smiling.

"Good. Now don't come back until you're ready to act like mature adults." she said, shutting the conference room door. I grinned.

"I love how she thinks we're going to come back." I said, smirking.

"You know we have to get off the plane eventually." He told me, grinning.

"Yeah, just not now. Or any time soon." I replied. And then I kissed him. He kissed back, pulling me closer.

And then Jase's dad walked in. We pulled apart and looked at him pointedly. He just turned back around and left, not saying anything at all. We laughed and I looked at Jase.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too. Just don't do anything that stupid ever again." he said.

"I can't make any promises." I replied, smirking.

"Can you at least try?" he asked me, slightly exasperated.

"Yeah. I can try." I said, smiling. "I know. It was stupid, but I had no other ideas." I said, shrugging.

"Whatever. It's over now." he said nonchalantly. "All that matters is that everyone got out safe.

"Yeah. Except, I don't think that we can leave this now. I mean hydra. They're clearly going to stop at nothing to get what they want. They got into the tower. I don't even know how they did that. The alarms would've gone off." I said.

"Unless they were already in. Oh my god." He said, pulling out his phone and immediately calling Uncle Tony.

I knew what he was thinking. That guy escaped the temporary holding cells at Stark Tower. Which means he probably let out every other hydra member there and they're all in the tower.

"He's not picking up. Even if he was fighting in his suit he would be able to answer." He said. And then he tried Tanner. Then Naomi, then Nat and Eddie.

I tried calling Alana, Elliot, Dianna, Johnny, and Jack. Then I hacked JARVIS to see what's going on there.

They were fighting Hydra. And there are way too many of them. This is almost as bad as the last time we were attacked.

But then I saw something that made me furious. One of them had Riley and Nina and was leaving with her while the others were all distracted. We were about to land but once we're inside it will be too late. So I made a split second decision and headed out of the room, Jase hot on my heels, but I'm not telling him what my plan is.

I grabbed my dad's spare shield. It's a stupid idea again. But once more, it's all I've got. So I opened the quintet dock and jumped down, albeit Jase's protests, aiming for the 3rd floor window. I crashed in, tucking and rolling, using the shield to cushion my fall, and getting up to punch the guy.

He was caught off guard and Riley and Nina flew into the air. I caught them with my powers and put them on the couch. Then I proceeded to fight this guy, using my dad's shield like it was my own. I knocked him out quickly with it and headed out to join the fight, grabbing Riley and Nina, who were crying. I took them and locked them behind many locks and hid them in the closet, telling them to stay there. They're Jase's family. They're _my_ family. No way am I letting them get hurt.

"Lana! Get down." I said, aiming for a guy right behind her. She ducked immediately and I shot. She whipped back up and proceeded to punch the guy in the jaw.

Aunt Skye was making very tiny earthquakes, only right under the hydra agents, causing them to fall. Sarah was shooting energy balls at people. My dad was very confused as to why I was fighting with his shield, but he kept going. My mom was crazy in action. She was basically a blur.

Elliot and Alana were fighting side by side, shooting like crazy, taking down Hydra move by move.

Naomi, Tanner, and Uncle Tony were in their suits and going to town, flying around and doing what they do best. Robert and Uncle Bruce had hulked out. Aunt Mel was also a crazy fighting machine. I've never seen somebody as old as her fight so well. Same with Uncle Phil.

"Red, you're an idiot." Jase told me, shooting the guy I was fighting.

"I know. One second." I said, shooting some more people. "Riley and Nina were about to be kidnapped by these lunatics. And we wouldn't have gotten there in time." I said.

"You're still crazy." he said. "But we'll have to discuss that later." and we continued to fight, gunshots ringing throughout the common room. There were over 500 Hydra agents here.

I flipped over one of them and hit him with the shield, causing him to fall painfully. I smirked and suddenly Juliana was at my side, fighting furiously with four people ganging up on her. And that just pissed me off further.

I shot all of them. Looking around briefly, everyone was injured, bleeding, and some had gunshot wounds. I decided to use up all my energy and end it now.

I grabbed Sarah. "I need you to give me an energy boost. A large one, and just in case, Riley and Nina are in the dining room closet." I said.

"That could burn you up." she said, looking at me unsurely.

"Just do it. I'll be fine." I insisted. She nodded and pointed her hands at me. Suddenly I felt like I could run 20 marathons, and it was a little painful. I focused deeply on every Hydra agent and their brains. It was straining me, and I had zoned out everything else. And then something snapped, and I could hear everyone's thoughts in the entire city.

I focused even more, trying to pinpoint them out of the many thoughts swirling in my head. I then unleashed a wave of pain on them, and they all dropped, but not before two of them got a shot at me.

I fell, already weak from that black out. My vision got hazy and could barely hear anything. I could feel myself fading, and the last thing I saw before completely leaving consciousness was Jase's face hovering in front of me, his dark eyes wide.

"I love you." I said. And then everything went dark.

(SKYE POV)

I looked around the room, filled with energy. The walls had holes in them, the bulletproof glass had melted into sand in some areas, which seems like it would be impossible. There were hundreds of Hydra agents littering the floor, and some areas of the floor were cracked from where I had shook it. Bullets were everywhere. Including in us. But most of us only had grazes or leg shots. So while they hurt, they weren't anywhere fatal.

Jade on the other hand, while taking out every single one of the Hydra agents here, got shot in the heart and back. We don't even know if she'll make it alive. So her family and Jason were down there, along with Jemma, Bruce, Dianna, and Robert.

"I'm going to get Riley and Nina." I said, going to get my sister's granddaughter and my niece. That's so weird. I opened the closet, and there they were, sleeping soundly, curled up on the floor.

I gently picked them up and they looked at me tiredly. "Ani Sye." Riley mumbled. She can't make the "k" sound yet. Or the "t".

Nina just went back to sleep while Riley just stared at me, her gray-green eyes wide. It's a little disconcerting.

Natalie came up to me looking excessively panicky. She took Riley from me and Riley smiled brightly. I envy her innocence.

I looked around again, very grimly. "C'mon. We're getting all of your injuries treated first. These guys will all stay out for at least 24 hours." Tony said.

We nodded and all went downstairs. We couldn't see much of Jade from all the movement around her. Jemma is working on her now, and the other three were patching up the rest of us.

"Skye, X, Lincoln, and Coulson. We need to talk to you." Jemma said.

We walked in there and Jade didn't look good. Her heart was beating very slowly and her vibrations were nowhere near as fast as normal. She was pale and barely breathing.

"Injecting her with gh325 could either heal her or be disastrous. She's already been injected with it and we have no idea whether or not it's safe to add more. But if we don't try that or find another solution . . . she'll die. Do any of you have a clue?" she asked. We all looked at each other.

"I don't know. I don't think it could hurt." Lincoln told her.

"Me neither. I had twice the normal dose, remember? We had no experience with it at that point. So I don't think two doses spread over time will do anything." my sister said.

"One problem. I don't think there's any left." I said hesitantly. Their eyes all widened. "One of the guys from Hydra had stolen the last of it and then when I was fighting him it got dropped onto the ground and spilled everywhere." I said sadly.

"Oh no. We have to find some other way then. I patched up her wounds, and thankfully it didn't hit her heart. But she did bleed out a lot. And on top of other injuries and the organs in hit, it's too much for her serum to heal. I have yet to tell those four." she said.

"We'll find something. Don't worry. And remember? In the future she's alive." I said.

"But the triplets shouldn't have come. They may have messed something up." she said.

"This is terrible. She can't just die from this. Not after everything. And you all saw how she reacted when she thought Jason was dead. How do you think Jason is going to react. He also has a dangerous power he hasn't quite gotten control over on top of that. I don't think it's a good idea to tell him or Juliana until it's official." I sai.

"You're right Skye." she agreed. "I have to go back to her now. Get yourselves patched up now." she instructed.

We nodded and left.

(NATASHA POV)

I looked at Jemma disbelievingly. "So you're saying that she could die?" I asked her. She nodded grimly.

"We're going to try everything. I just thought I should let you two know." she said, before walking away.

"Jade can't just die. She just basically sacrificed herself for all of us." Steve said, looking very angry.

"Jemma will figure it out." I said, although I wasn't even convinced.

Steve, captain America, the freaking poster boy of optimists, gave me a sad look. "I don't think so." He said.

(AGENT X POV)

I looked at Jason worriedly. He's been pacing back and forth and hasn't sat down or gotten him injuries treated. It's been at least two hours. I understand he's terrified right now, but that's no reason to not get his injuries. And from what I can see, he's getting in Jemma's way. But she doesn't want to be rude and tell him to go away.

"Jason? You should get your injuries treated." Natalie told him. He didn't reply, just shook his head.

"Jason. You have to. I'm sure Robert can just do it here." she insisted.

He shook his head again, still not speaking. Then blue fire spread up around his body and when it disappeared, he was fine, the cuts on him totally gone.

"What did you just do?" Natalie asked him. He just shrugged.

"Jason. Talk to me." she said, looking quite irritated. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

He shook his head. "Was that a no as in you won't talk to me or as in you're not mad at me?" she asked.

"Both." He said, finally speaking. And then he turned away from her. Natalie finally noticed me.

"Mom, can you make him talk to me?" she asked.

"No. He's an adult now remember? And besides, I don't think I could do anything anyway." I told her.

He was glaring at the wall. Natalie went up to him and hit his arm. "Stop ignoring me. Just say something." she said. He looked at her.

"Something." he said. She rolled her eyes.

"Not what I meant Jason. Stop being irritating. Why do I even bother?" she asked exasperatedly.

He shrugged. This is a little funny to look at. Natalie and him both got the height, but he's 6'4. Taller than James even. James is 6'1, I'm 5'10, and Natalie is 5'9. So we're a pretty tall family, but even that, he's much taller than all of us.

I watched them intently. Natalie was trying to get him to talk and was failing epically. James came up to me.

"Hey Blondie." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Hey Blue." He said. "Are you going to keep calling me that for the rest of our lives?" He asked.

"Yup. It's been 47 years since I started calling you that. Get used to it." I said.

"We're so old." He said.

"I know. Look at them. They're all grown up now." I said, nodding my head at Natalie and Jason.

He sighed. "I'm worried about Jason. He's been acting strange since he got back, and this isn't going to help the situation at all."

"I'm worried about him as well. But I'm glad that those two aren't fighting anymore. It's disorienting. And he's refusing to talk to her. He never does that. Maybe to us, but not to her." I said, looking at them concerned.

"We've messed up a lot with him." James said.

"I know. I just- I knew that so many bad things were going to happen because of his relationship with Jade. So I tried to break it up. I thought that maybe forcefully separating them could work. But it didn't. It just made him hate me. And now Jade is going to die and we're going to lose all of it" I said, shaking my head.

He was silent for a moment. "You told me that you believed in fate. You told me that it's a twisted, dangerous thing. But you also told me that you're a realist. So realistically, our family is alive, Jason doesn't have a problem with us anymore, we're pretty much as happy of a family as we can get, living this life. It was our destiny to end up here, in these circumstances. That's why I know that Jade is going to make it out of this alive and okay." he said. "And then everything will go back to how it's supposed to be. You can't be afraid of the future."

"You're right. Just like always." I muttered.

"It'll be fine. Don't worry so much." he told me.


	14. Hydra will fall

**Hi guys. So this chapter is kind of quick paced, and you're going ot see some of dark Jason. Is it strange that I find that exciting? XD. Also, I've come up with a theme song. SKYFALL by Adele. I know that's kind of James Bond's thing, but whatever. I think this fits better with the song anyway. Enjoy! :)**

(ELLIOT POV)

It's been a week since Hydra attacked and Jade has neither gotten better nor worse. Jason on the other hand, well he's clearly getting worse. He hasn't eaten, slept, or even spoken to anyone besides short, mostly snappy one to two word sentences.

And he's constantly glaring at the wall. I haven't seen him do anything but glare for the past week. His family tried talking to him but it's not working. He just gives them an irritated look or tells them to go away.

Nat tried pushing a little too hard and I swear I saw little embers flying off of him. And that's not okay.

The only time he's not glaring is when he's looking at Jade. Then it's just a really sad look. I sighed and walked up to him. He needs to leave. He's getting in the way right now but nobody wants to say anything.

So I'll be the bad guy here. Blunt is kind of what I do. It's from my mom.

"Hey Jason." I said. He glanced at me but don't respond. "You should eat something."

"I'm not hungry." he said shortly.

"Okay then. You should try to sleep." I told him.

"Not tired." he replied.

"Okay listen man. They need space to look at her and try to heal her. You're getting in the way." I said, looking him on the eyes. This kid doesn't scare me. Not at all. I mean, it's kind of strange how he can control the fire, but I grew up with him.

"That's nice."

"Come on Jason. Snap out of it. Nothing is going to happen to her if you go to eat something." I told him.

"You don't know that." He said bitterly.

"Yes, I do. Dianna already told you. There'll be signs of heart failure at least three hours before anything else happens. So if you leave for half an hour, nothing will happen.

"Go away."

"You're going to die without eating or sleeping." I told him irritatedly. "We all care about you Jason. Nobody wants you to starve to death."

He glared at me. "I can survive maximum three months without any food, water, or sleep. I'll live." he snapped.

"What's going on with you? You're just constantly irritated. Don't keep it inside. You're going to explode eventually." I said.

"Leave me alone Elliot."

"Jason. Get up. Go eat something. Then you can come back here and sulk all you want." I told him, annoyed.

"I don't have to listen to you." he said, glaring at me venomously.

I didn't even flinch. "Stop being stubborn. At least when Jade was in this situation she took out her feelings somewhere. We all were concerned for her and right now we're concerned for you. Everybody here cares about you two. You need to wake up and realize that and finally let somebody in." I told him, walking out and leaving. He didn't even look at me.

(MATTHEW POV)

I get it. I know what Jason's going through. But to be fair, it's probably twenty times worse for him. I don't know exactly what happens to a person while they're in a coma, but I do know that they dream during it. And from what I know about those two, they don't have pleasant dreams.

There's a chance that Jade could live, but it's a slim chance. And Jason knows that.

I sighed and got up. I'm still not over Bridget. Never will be, I don't think.

When I first got here, I had wondered why everyone was even still friends with Jason and Jade. They always clung to each other, they would snap at everyone else frequently, and there were a lot of things that made me wonder.

My thoughts got suddenly interrupts when the alarms started blaring. I bolted towards the area where the alarms came from. Would a single day of peace be too much to ask for?

When I got there I was stunned. There were _kids._ Much younger than us too, fighting and killing like it meant nothing to them. Which isn't shocking, because look at us. The startling part was that there were at least 100 of them.

The youngest one I could see had to be around nine, but he had a ruthless look in his eyes. The oldest was probably my age, and she was even more scary. She was going up against Aunt Tasha, but wasn't really getting anywhere with it.

Aunt Tasha had her pinned down in seconds. I quickly joined in the fight, even though I didn't want to. Everyone was only using icers, because these are kids, even though they clearly want to kill us.

Then two little kids charged me. I don't want to fight two twelve year olds. My conscious is seriously against this. But then again, that's probably why there are kids here instead of adults. So I fought, slightly holding back.

(JASON POV)

Really? Stupid Hydra. Haven't they done enough? First they hurt Red, and now they have the nerve to attack again. And they send kids. Freaking kids.

I couldn't care less that they were kids to be honest, but everyone else does and they're holding back. I walked quickly into the area where the fight was going on. Matthew saw me and raised his eyebrows.

"So you decided to come out now?" He asked. I ignored him.

"You're going too easy on them. They want to kill you. Who cares if they're kids?" I said coldly, punching one of the attackers and flipping them over, hearing some bones snap. I could feel eyes on me, watching me.

"Jason! What the heck? These are little kids!" Matthew protested.

"Yeah. Little kids who are attacking us and are out to kill." I bluntly responded, taking out three more at once. "Now stop holding back."

"They're probably not doing this by choice." He argued.

"Okay. That's nice. They're still doing it." I replied.

"Do you have no soul?" He asked, as we were still fighting.

"I do. I just don't feel sympathy for the enemy. They freaking shot her." I said, my voice sounding cruel even to me.

"Oh, so that's what this is about. These kids didn't shoot her."

"They work for the same people. Still counts." I muttered, kicking another boy in the ribs.

Then I decided to just end this. I had realized a while ago that I can choose who my fire hurts and heals. So then I just let it all go. All the kids fell and all my friends just looked shocked that I had actually just done that.

"Jason! What the hell? Those were kids!" Elliot said, looking furious.

"Kids that wanted to kill you." I glared at everyone. "They were hydra. Not even brainwashed. Raised evil." I said.

"How do you know that?" Natalie demanded, looking ready to explode.

I grabbed one of the kids' guns. "Look. This is the hydra symbol. Each of these kids has a tracker in them so deeply imbedded into the skin that it had to have been there at least ten years, most likely more." I said, pointing to a kid's limp arm that had a glowing green spot coming out of his arm.

"How did you notice all of this?" She demanded.

"I wasn't focusing on not hurting them, I was focusing on stopping them from causing any more damage. They sent kids for exactly that reason." I said, rolling my eyes.

"I don't know what your problem is, but you need to stop being a heartless jerk." She told me bluntly, staring me down, even if she's shorter than me.

"And you need to mind your own business." I replied, staring back.

"This is my business. You're my brother." she argued.

"Anything else you'd like to state, captain obvious?" I asked her. "You being my sister doesn't automatically mean you can be bossy and irritating."

She laughed coldly. "I'm the irritating one? You just basically killed a hundred kids. KIDS JASON." she said.

"They're not dead. Just knocked out. I'm not cruel." I replied equally as icily.

"Oh yeah? Well you're certainly acting like it." she said.

"Just leave me alone." I said, turning around.

"No." She said stubbornly, coming to stand in front of me again.

"What do you want?" I asked, highly annoyed.

"This isn't you Jason. Stop acting like this. I get it, okay?" she said.

"I don't think you get it. Your life was easy. No problems. And even when you did have small problems, mom and dad weren't smothering you like crazy. So don't try and talk to me like you understand." I said.

"She might not get it. But I do. And acting like that isn't going to help the situation." Matthew said.

I looked at him and blinked. "Then what will? Nothing will help. So just leave me alone." I said coldly before leaving.

I went back and saw her, completely unconscious and pale. It made me so sad and angry all at once.

On one hand I wanted to just sit there and cry, while on the other I wanted to go find every Hydra agent that ever lived and murder them painfully. I don't even understand how that works, and emotions are kind of my thing.

But what I do understand is that she's having nightmares. Really bad nightmares, and she can't even wake up from them. But just by looking at her you wouldn't be able to tell.

Her mouth was tilted in a tiny frown, but other than that she was expressionless. She hadn't moved at all since last week. And to be honest, I haven't moved much either.

The part that kills me is that one of the last things I had told her before she got shot was that she was an idiot. Of course I hadn't meant it, and she knew that too, but I wish it had been something else. Because really, she could die right now and that would've been the last thing I said to her.

It's ironic. I also told her 'we'll talk about it later' and then this happened. Why? I just don't understand why this happens so often.

I sighed. I just kind of want to be alone at the moment.

Without anybody bothering me trying to get me to eat or open up. What do they want me to say? It's pretty obvious what my problem is, so I don't know why they keep asking.

Maybe they want some sort of heartfelt confession with me telling them my worst fears and how they just came to life. Not happening.

Or maybe they want me to smile brightly and pretend like Red's not about to die.

At the hands of Hydra. Hydra is going to be destroyed, for good this time. They've caused every single person in this tower pain. And they're going to pay for that.

I can't stand to think about what'll happen if she does die. I also can't stand to think what'll happen if one more person walks through that door to talk to me. I think I made it plenty clear that I don't want to talk. And that I'm not going to.

I looked at Red. Her eyes are closed, and she looks peaceful, even though I can feel her fear basically radiating off of her. Her arms are at her sides and she was eerily still, she's barely breathing. And that's when the flood came. I just started crying intensely, not caring who saw me. Let them. After a while I just steeled my nerves and stopped, drying my eyes.

Then Juliana walked in. She's been in here the majority of the time I have, except she eats and occasionally she sleeps. Aunt Tasha and Uncle Steve have been in here a lot too, staying here throughout the whole process.

And then Dianna walked in and looked at us. "We need to talk." she said, sounding completely miserable.

"Okay." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Jade- she's going to die. We've tried everything. There's no more GH325 left, her bones and other organs have repaired themselves but her heart function is too slow to allow her to live on a daily basis. An implant would not work given her biology and the altered structure of things due to her other injuries. We've tried everything we possibly can. We already told her parents, but we didn't want to tell you just in case we found something. I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry, but as of right now, all we can really do is wait." she told us, tears welling up in her eyes. And then she left.

I needed to punch something. And scream. And cry. And so many other things. I can't even think clearly.

We live with a bunch of geniuses. How is it possible that none of them could find a solution? It's not fair. It's so not fair.

I walked out of the room and grabbed a punching bag. A large, extremely sturdy one. And then I started punching it, hard, not bothering with wrapping my hands.

Let them bleed. It doesn't matter.

I hate hydra. I thought I had felt hate before, but no. I despise that organization with every fiber of my being. I wish that this punching bag was hydra. Just all of them, so I could knock them all out.

I hate myself, for actually letting myself hope that she'd live.

I could feel my knuckles starting to bleed and the bag starting to tear, but who cares? Nothing even matters anymore.

I landed a hard kick at the bag and it swung off the chain, a giant hole in the center, and flew against the back wall.

(DIANNA POV)

I hate this. I hate how she's going to die and that I couldn't do anything about it. None of us could.

I looked at her, laying there mostly unconscious. It's quite sad really, that after everything she's been through, this takes her down. She's been shot too many times to count, but this one touched her heart, if only barely.

I wish there was GH325 left. Then she could heal. But this way, well, it wouldn't work.

"Come on Jade. Get better." I said quietly. I sighed.

I glanced out of the glass walls and saw the bodies of the children who were starting to come to. I saw the small burn marks fading and then I realized something.

Jason's blue fire heals. He could heal Jade! How could we have been so stupid? Of course!

I rushed downstairs to find him. If be willing to bet he's in the gym currently.

He's going at the punching bag furiously right now, and there were two destroyed ones lying next to the wall.

I went up behind him. "Jason?" I asked. He whirled around and was about to punch me before he saw who it was.

"Sorry." he said.

"It's fine. But I think I've figured out how to heal her! Use the blue fire!" I said.

His eyes widened and he facepalmed. "I'm such an idiot." He said.

"Yeah you are. Anything in particular that made you realize that?" Elliot asked, coming downstairs.

"Shut up." Jason said, going back upstairs quickly.

"Elliot, I've figured out how to heal Jade. Can you tell Uncle Steve and Aunt Tasha?" I asked. He nodded.

"How?" He asked.

"The blue fire!" I said. He shook his head.

"How did we not figure that out sooner?" he asked.

"I don't know. Now go on! Hurry up." I said, shooing him away.

He laughed. "Okay okay, going."

I walked upstairs and by the time got there he had already gotten Aunt Tasha and Uncle Steve.

I looked at Jason, who was standing inside the glass, and looked like a nervous wreck. "Jason. Your regular fire doesn't hurt her. So don't worry." Elliot said.

"How do you know that?" Jason asked him.

"I kinda followed you guys one time when you used blue fire for the first time." He said. I rolled my eyes. Typical Elliot.

Jason also rolled his eyes. "Okay. Whatever."

"Why are your knuckles all bloody?" Elliot asked. Jason looked down at his hands as thigh only now noticing that and shrugged.

"Okay okay. As much as we love this budding bromance crap, would you mind hurrying up?" Aunt Tasha asked.

"It is not a budding bromance." Elliot refuted strongly.

"Yes it is." I told him, "it really is." He rolled his eyes.

"Is not." he muttered.

"Ssshhhhh." I said.

In the short time we had been talking, Jason had already used his fire, and we could see the final blue flames flickering out.

For one terrifying minute all the monitors stopped completely, the heart monitor flatlining, all her other vitals dropping as well. But then she took a deep breath and everything was working again and she was alive.

She opened her eyes and was looking at Jason, smiling slightly, but she looked very weak still. I'll probably have to force her to stay there or else she'll go fall all over the place because she's too dizzy to walk and too stubborn to admit it.

(JADE POV)

I got up and looked at Jase. "What did I miss?" I asked him.

"Nothing much. A bunch of kids showed up at the tower. Hydra agents, and attacked us." He replied nonchalantly.

"Was anyone hurt?" I asked.

He shrugged. "No. Not really."

"Ooookay then." I muttered. "Wait. Why are your knuckles bloody?" I asked him, looking at them.

He shrugged again. "It's nothing, they'll go away in a few minutes." He said. And he was right, they slowly disappeared. I really kind of wanted to give him a giant hug right now because he looks really sad in general, and also looks like he hasn't slept or eaten. But I have wires connected to me everywhere and an IV in my wrist that's making me twitchy.

I really want to rip it out and get far away from it. Contrary to popular belief, I am not over that trigger yet.

I sighed and pulled the IV out. "Much better." I said. He smiled slightly.

"You haven't been eating have you?" I asked him. He shrugged. "Or slept?"

"Not really." He said. I looked at him concerned.

I pulled out all the wires on me, not bothering with them. They probably weren't important anyway. And then I stood up.

"Cmon. Let's go eat." I said.

He looked at me skeptically. "Are you sure you should get up? You've been out for a while." he said.

"Eh. I'll be fine." I said, walking out.

Suddenly I felt really dizzy. I grabbed on to his arm to steady myself, but just as suddenly as it came, it went.

I realized I was gripping his arm really tightly, so I let go. He looked at me pointedly.

"Maybe you should sit down." he said. I shook my head adamantly.

"No. You are going to eat right now. And I know that if I go sit over there, you will not eat. So that's it." I said stubbornly.

He smiled slightly. "You just got shot twice. Be careful." he said.

I kissed him lightly. "I'll be fine." I said.

We walked downstairs and I jumped up and grabbed my honey bunches of oats. I don't care if it's dark out, I'm eating my cereal.

He just opened the cabinet and grabbed his out. I glared at him.

"Why do you have to be so tall?" I asked him. He grinned.

"I mean, I was injected with a serum from your blood." he said.

"Yeah yeah." I muttered. "How did that feel? I've never asked you before."

"I don't know. It was really strange actually. I could feel myself growing really fast and other things, like my hearing got better, my sight did too, and I noticed way more things." he said. I nodded. We were silently eating for a few minutes.

I looked at him. "Are you okay?" I asked him. He looked at me.

"Yeah. Why?" he replied.

"You're acting strangely." I said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm just tired." he said. I know he's lying. Of course I do. I just don't why.

"Okay. You should've slept then." I told him.

"I couldn't." He replied, staring intensely at his empty bowl as though it was a murderer.

"Jase . . . just talk to me." I said.

"I don't know. You were dying. There was no more GH325 left. They all tried everything." he said. I put my hand over his.

"I'm fine now. I promise you. I'm not going anywhere." I told him. "But if there was nothing else left, then how . . ." I trailed off.

"I used my fire." he said. I smiled.

"Thanks. Where would I be without you? Probably dead 5 times over." I said. He smiled.

"I would be dead too without you." he said. "It's nice though. We need each other."

"I love you. You know that right?" I asked. He smiled.

"I love you too." he said. I leaned up and kissed him. He slid his arms around my waist and I slid mine up his back.

A sudden thought made me freeze for barely a second, but then I just pushed it away. I could think about that later.

I swear, if hydra does one more thing to us, I'm going to murder each and every single one of them. So I kissed him harder, trying to dispel these thoughts of Hydra and their idiocy.

He responded, and it was basically just a few moments of absolute perfection until someone coughed very loudly. We pulled apart, looking at the interrupter.

It was Dianna. "Jade, you should not be straining yourself at this time. You were just in a coma."

"I'm not straining myself." I muttered. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You were about to." she replied. We blushed.

"Shut up." I told her. She scoffed.

"I'm talking from a medical standpoint. Doing that at this point could potentially weaken you further than you are already." she said.

"Okay. Anything you came up here to tell us besides that?" I asked.

"Go drink a few large glasses of water then get me a urine sample. Then you have to replenish your energy. Eat many fruits and veggies. Also, eating cereal is not the best idea at the moment. You're liable to-" suddenly I retched. So I ran to the trash and threw up. "Vomit." she finished.

"Gee you think?" I asked her. She sighed.

"You're not going to improve if you don't listen to me. Also, you have a bedtime. In order for your body to get back into the swing of things you have to go to sleep by 10:00.

"WHAT. That's so early!" I protested. She shrugged.

"I don't care." she said stubbornly, then left.

"Well, it's 8:30. We've got an hour and a half." I muttered.

"Okay. You should probably get her that urine sample before she kills you." he advised. I nodded grimly.

"How am I even supposed to do that?" I asked myself, shaking my head.

"Well, you know, put the vial under your urethra and yeah." he said, as though it were obvious.

"Easy for you to say. I can't see mine." I told him.

"Oh. Right. Duh." he said. I smirked.

"Boys have it easy." I said. "No periods. Psssh. I wish." I said. I'm making him very uncomfortable.

"I'm really sorry that you have to go through that, but it can't be that bad, can it?" he asked.

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "It is that bad. Imagine blood gushing out of you while you're being repeatedly stabbed in the gut over and over again. And I've actually been stabbed in the gut repeatedly, so I'm not exaggerating at all." I told him. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Alright! I'm not trying to offend you. I don't exactly have those." he said.

I smiled. "See, this is why I'm dating you. You're sensible enough not to question my struggles."

He looked at me skeptically. "Oooookayyyy then."

I grabbed a glass of water and drank it quickly, then another, then another. I got the pee sample, gave it to Dianna, then went back into the kitchen, where he was sitting, texting someone.

"Who are you texting?" I asked curiously. He looked at me.

"Marlin found a hydra base. Relatively close to his sister's house too." he said. I looked back at him worriedly.

"What? No way. Okay, well, I guess we have to go, don't we?" I asked. He nodded, looking irritated.

"Don't worry. With luck, it'll probably be quick and easy." I said, not quite believing myself.

"Yeah. Because we're sooo lucky." he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

I sighed. "Let's just get this over with." I muttered. We walked out. The only reason we're doing this is because Marlin is our friend. And I owe Hydra two bullets in the heart. Straight in their pulsing center that never seem to fail.

Hydra thinks they're so smart. Cut one head off, two more grow back. But what they aren't accounting for is me.

I'm going to take them out from the center. The beating heart of Hydra will fail, and no more heads will grow from there.

So get ready Hydra, because I'm coming.


	15. Mark Ronson

**Hello friends. This is going to be the chapter where you're going to see a lot more intense than lighthearted scenes. I don't have much to say, except that I've been having some serious writer's block lately. Enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

I glanced at Red. She had a dark look in her eyes, but to be honest, it's better than the empty one that was there just a few days ago. We left them a note because we know they won't let us leave if we told them now. That would take too long.

"This is ridiculous." she said.

"What? The fact that we can't tell them where we're going or the fact that we even have to go?" I asked.

"Both." she deadpanned. "So infuriating. I mean, why can't Hydra just go die?" she asked.

I looked at her darkly. "Hydra doesn't die. They just keep coming back." I said.

"Not this time." she swore.

"Just don't do anything else that could get you killed. I'm not sure if you've been thinking clearly lately." I muttered.

"I'm fine." she said.

I stopped. "You jumped out of the plane into a solid, bullet proof glass wall. That's not 'fine'." I told her. She looked at me.

"I had my dad's shield. I knew nothing would happen to me." she said.

"What if you had missed?" I demanded.

"I don't miss." she refuted.

"I can list several times when you have. Also, you knew you were going to black out after using your powers on such a large scale, but did it anyway. And then you got shot." I told her.

"First of all, yes, I knew that. That's why I asked Sarah to give me an energy boost. I just wasn't fast enough to dodge the bullets." she said.

"Right. I didn't notice." I said dryly. She gave me a look.

"Okay. I'm fine now." she said shortly.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you though? Bullet wounds don't just stop hurting all of a sudden." I replied.

"I can handle a little bit of pain." she said.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should." I said.

"It's already over. Just leave it." she muttered.

"Stop just putting your life at risk all the time. You managed to do it three times in the same day, and almost got yourself killed the third time." I said.

She crossed her arms. "Okay. What's your problem? You've been acting weird all day. Don't lie to me again." she said.

"I haven't been acting weird." I said. "Don't try and change the subject."

"Yes you have. You've been excessively twitchy and grumpy." she told me. "Is this how you've been acting the entire week?" she asked, her voice softening slightly.

"Worse." I muttered.

"Just tell me. I don't understand why you're refusing to tell me what happened." she said.

"I-" But I couldn't speak. My mouth was dry and I couldn't say what I wanted to. I closed my mouth. I know why, but I'm not saying it. At least not out loud. I'm sure she can hear me loud and clear anyway.

I burned a bunch of kids. Sure, at the time I wasn't thinking clearly. But I still did it. And then I went off at my sister, Elliot, and my parents. On top of that I almost punched Dianna. And then kids came to the tower and started fighting. They were scared. I knew that. And I know, they're being told what good is right now. They were being _punished_ if they didn't do what they were asked. To kill us. And I burned them all.

Sure, it won't hurt them permanently. In fact, the burns are probably already gone. But I still did it, knowing exactly what was happening to them.

Nat was right. I was acting cruel. I didn't even care about anything at all. I was ready to kill.

"Jase. I think that what you did was probably the best thing anyone could've done. Yeah, you burned them. But they're all fine now and away from Hydra. If you hadn't done that, well, they probably would've succeeded and gone back to Hydra only to be forced into doing more evil." she said quietly.

I didn't respond. "I mean it. I'm not just saying that because I love you either." she said. "C'mon. We should've left a while ago."

We walked onto the plane and were mostly silent the entire way there, both of us just thinking. I glanced at her. She was twisting her fingers oddly.

"Red?" I asked. She looked at me. "Why do you do that? With your fingers?" She glanced down.

"Oh. I didn't realize I did that until now." she said. "I just kind of do it, I guess." she said.

I smiled. "You do it when you're nervous." I informed her.

"I'm not nervous." she said.  
"Whatever you say." I said, smirking, looking ahead. She hit my arm lightly.

"I'm not." she protested.

"I can feel it." I told her.

"I hate it when you're right." she muttered. I laughed.

"This is the third time I've been right. You're losing your touch." I teased.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "I am not. And besides, we're wayyyyy past the third time."

"I don't keep count." I told her, smiling.

"Yeah? I try. But I usually forget where I was at and move on." she said, looking at me pointedly. I know her words had a double meaning. But I'm going to ignore it.

She sighed. "Look. Down there." she said, pointing to the Hydra base.

I landed the plane next to Marlin's sister's house and we knocked. He opened the door.

"Hi guys. Thanks for coming. But we don't have time. I made them hide in the bunker I had installed underneath their basement for emergencies. I'm going to join them in a minute but here, earpieces. I have all my stuff set up down there. I'll keep tabs on you from there. Here are harddrives. Install them inside their mainframe and I'll have access to everything and I can initiate self destruct once you're out of the building while also saving files. Did you bring backup?" he asked.

"We didn't. We'll be fine though." I said. He nodded.

"Are you guys okay? You look very tired." he said.

We glanced at each other. "It's kind of a long story. We'll tell you after this." Red told him. He nodded, we put the earpieces in and a few minutes later we heard his voice.

"Okay guys. Take it down quickly. Don't get caught or else this won't work and you'll have to find another solution." he said.

"Okay. We're going in." I said.

"The mainframe is in the very middle, so go down the thickest hallway and go straight down until the fifth left. Turn there and you'll see a giant door. Enter it and you'll see it. I'll tell you what to do from there."

We did as he said and got to the mainframe. "Okay. Now find the blue USB port. Plug the first hard drive in there." he said. I did so while Red kept watch.

"Jase, five of them are coming right now. Hurry up." she said to me telepathically. I mentally cursed.

He told me the instructions and I got them in. I had been so focused that when I turned around, I didn't realize the agents swarming in.

Red was shooting them left and right and had taken down many of them, but it's too much.

We both were doing everything we could. "Marlin, blow it up." I said.

"You guys aren't out yet."

"We're not going to make it out. Just do it." Red told him.

"No. You two are getting out of there." He insisted.

"Marlin." I said through gritted teeth. "Get any files you can from the mainframe. I'm going to just set the whole place on fire." I said. I hate having to do this, but it's effective and quick and won't hurt either of us.

"But Jade-"

"It won't hurt her. Just trust me." I said.

We were still fighting them, but they had better weapons and way more of them. Anytime we took one down, one more would come in their place. Where did all of these people even come from?

"Okay done." Marlin said. I glanced at Red and then let the fire go. But as agents fell, one of them got a clear shot and shot me in the back. The fire immediately stopped and I fell, hearing Red calling out my name.

(JADE POV)

No. This cannot be happening. Not now. So I just let out my powers again. Yeah, sure, there's a chance I could go down, especially because I don't have an energy boost from Sarah this time. But it's worth it.

So I did it, and then, bad things happened. One after another.

All of them went down except for one. I tried getting into it but then I realized something. It's a robot. And then as soon as I realized this, it shot me.

When I woke up I was in some room and my powers weren't working. I could see Jase in front of me, but he was also bound and was too far away.

We were both gagged and cuffed to a chair, and neither of our powers were working.

Then walked in somebody I never thought I'd see again. Mark freaking Ronson. I killed him.

"Hello again Jade. Hello Jason." He said, grinning creepily. I glared at him. "I want you, Jason, to tell me what I need to know, or else she's going to get hurt by it." he said.

Neither of us showed any emotion to this statement, but I gave Jase a pointed look. Don't do it. We'll find a way out of here.

Jase managed to get out of the gag and glared at the foul thing in front of us. "Not happening." he said.

"Well, I'm sure you'll cave eventually." he said, then out of nowhere grabbed an electric rod and stabbed my stomach with it. I grit my teeth, not showing any emotion. He increased the voltage and eventually it was too much. I grunted in pain.

I spit out the gag. "What do you want to know?" I asked him. He smirked.

"Ready so soon?" he asked smugly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes. Obviously. I'm soooo eager to help hydra in any way possible." I said sarcastically.

"Good." he said, oblivious to my sarcasm. "I want to know SHIELD. The ins and outs of it." he said.

I smiled. "Okay. SHIELD. Stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division." I said. He glared at me.

"That's not what I meant." he said.

"Isn't it though? You said you wanted to know SHIELD. There you go." I said innocently. He just went to the back wall and grabbed something, but I couldn't see what.

He stepped back in front of us holding a needle with an all too familiar substance in it. Pain enhancer. I froze slightly, but pushed the flashbacks away. Not now. Not here.

Then he stabbed it into my arm. I grit my teeth and didn't look at Jase. I looked anywhere but at him.

"Now. I'm going to get the information I wanted, or she's going to get punished." he said, addressing Jase. I wanted to say something, but I felt numb.

"No." he said stubbornly.

But then he stabbed my arm with a knife. And I screamed. The drugs in my system made it too much. When he pulled it out, I started breathing heavily. My vision is blurry and my thoughts are hardly coherent. But I do know that these pain enhancers are way stronger than the ones they had used before.

I made eye contact with Jase. I shook my head slightly. He gave me a look. I know that look. He has a plan. Which is good. Usually I'm the one with the plan, but when he has a plan, however rare it is, they're good plans. Well thought out, instead of my reckless ones. I guess recklessness is what happens when you combine my dad's great planning abilities and my mom's daring attitude. I'm going on a tangent.

"So? Are you ready to talk yet?" Mark asked him. He said no once more, his voice hard. I took a deep breath and braced myself for what was coming.

But it didn't come immediately, which is odd. Instead, he went up to Jason and whispered something in his ear that made him go extremely pale.

My vision was still hazy, but I could tell that much. I could see Mark walking up to me, pulling out a gun.

"No. Stop." I heard Jase say.

"Will you tell me now?"

"Give me specifics. I'll tell you." he said through gritted teeth. I looked at him and shook my head as much as I could. It felt like I weighed thousands of pound more than I do, and I could hardly move.

"That's more like it. Now. Where is the Hub?" he asked.

"You already know that." Jase said irritatedly. Mark pressed the gun against my arm, right where he had stabbed it earlier. I winced slightly. Any physical contact hurts like crazy.

"Tell me."

"Fine. It's in New York City. Also, it's pretty hard to miss. You guys must be stupid." he said.

"Just answer the questions." he said coldly. "Next question. Who's the current director?"

"Phil Coulson." He lied easily. Suddenly I felt something stab into my thigh. I screamed loudly. I wasn't expecting that.

"Red!" I heard him call. I made eye contact with him again and smiled weakly.

"Answer with the truth next time or it'll be worse." he threatened. I winced as he pressed the cold barrel harder into my arm.

Jase was searching my eyes, trying to make sure I'm okay. But I'll live. I'll be fine.

(SARAH POV)

"Hey Sarah? Have you seen Jason or Jade recently?" I heard my mom ask from the doorway.

I shook my head. "No. Why? Are they gone?" I asked, glancing at Johnny.

"We think so." she said. Then the alarms started blaring. Johnny and I got up and followed everyone to the kitchen.

"They went to help a friend. So stupid." I heard Aunt Tasha say angrily. "I was never this reckless. So I don't know where she got this from because you're mister follow the rules." she told Uncle Steve.

"They'll most likely be fine. They can handle themselves." My mom said. They looked at her.

"She was just _shot._ And almost died. She could just go unconscious in the middle of a fight or something." Juliana said, looking seriously frazzled. She looked really tired, like she hadn't slept in a while. But then again, she probably hasn't.

"I know. But that's why Jason is with her. You guys need to let them breath a little. I understand you're worried about them, but trying to restrict them will do no good." my mom told them. They looked at her unsurely.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. They're gone. Hopefully they'll come back within the day." Uncle James said. And then everyone dispersed. I looked at Johnny, who had been mostly silent.

"they're idiots." he said, shaking his head frustratedly.

"I know. But they can take care of themselves." I said.

"They can. They just don't." he muttered. "Anyway. I have to go talk to Jack. My dad wanted me to tell him to call our grandma." He said.

"While you're there, can you ask him to talk to Juliana as well? She doesn't look okay." I said. He nodded and left.

I walked upstairs and found Nina and Riley crawling into the lab. I laughed and picked them both up.

"Where do you guys think you're going?" I asked, although I know they can't respond.

They gave me upset looks and I smiled back.

"C'mon guys. Let's go play with something that won't kill you." I suggested, and I carried them over to the playroom where they immediately grabbed whatever and stuck it in their mouth. I laughed lightly when suddenly the alarms started blaring again. I sighed and got up, grabbing them as well.

We walked into the kitchen and I saw my Aunt standing there, looking totally frazzled.

"I can't see their memories. Wherever they are, they aren't safe." she said.

(JASON POV)

I looked at Red. Her eyes were glazed over and her breathing was really shallow. She was bleeding in multiple areas and her gunshot wound had reopened.

I want to just tell them what they want to know. It's better than watching her get hurt more. But I know I'll never forgive myself if anyone else gets hurt because of what I told them. I also know logically that they aren't just going to let us go free once I tell them. They're going to keep hurting her.

So really, it comes down to whether I let her continue getting hurt or if I stop her pain temporarily while getting everyone else hurt too.

I have to find a way out of this. She's not doing okay. She hasn't made eye contact since he injected her with the pain enhancing serum.

How is this guy even alive? We watched him die. I glared at him.

"You can keep stalling while she gets hurt more, or you can answer me." he said.

I didn't respond, not trusting myself to do what I have to. He smirked.

Then he ripped off her shirt. "What the hell?!" I growled, angry. I want nothing more than to break out of these cuffs and kill him. For good this time.

"I told you. Keep stalling and she gets hurt more." he said, grinning.

"Don't you dare touch her." I said.

"Then tell me what I want to know." he responded.

"No."

"Okay then." he said, cutting her stomach, tracing another scar that was already there.

"Why. Why do you do this? Do you honestly enjoy this?" I asked him.

He smiled at me. "Yes. I do. So now, you can tell me the information I need." he said.

I grit my teeth. "Just stop it." I said.

"Not until you tell me what I need to know."

"Never." I said, but then something worse happened. He stabbed her in the gut, and blood started flowing.

I'm not entirely sure what's happening now, but basically the whole room is on fire, he's lying on the ground dead, and the cuffs on me and her have melted off.

The fire died down but I was already next to her. She was barely conscious. I saw her shirt, but it was quite literally ripped in half. I pulled mine off and put it on her.

"C'mon. Stay with me Red." I said desperately. She looked at me blankly and I picked her up, although I saw how much it was paining her.

"I'm sorry." I said, but she just shook her head.

"Go." she said quietly. I nodded and ran out, towards Marlin's sister's house.

We got there and he instantly opened the door.

"Come inside. Quickly. I called Ria over here when you guys didn't come back. Rena is asleep." he said, ushering me inside.

"What happened to her?" Ria asked, alarmed, as we walked downstairs into the bunker which is apparently completely stocked with medical supplies.

I laid her down on the medical bed. "I have to call everyone." I said quietly. How did this happen? How did this go so wrong?

"Hi mom." I said quietly. I can barely talk.

"Jason? Where are you?" she asked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story. We're at a friend's house currently. We might not be home for a while." I said.

"Who's house?"

"One of our teammates." I said.

"Okay. Come home as soon as you can." she said. "Why did you guys leave?"

"We had a mission to take care of." I said.

"Are you two okay?" she asked.

"I've got to go." I said, hanging up abruptly. She called again, but this time I didn't answer it.

"Jason, you have a gunshot wound." Marlin said. I shrugged.

"One second." I said, spreading some blue fire around the room. My injuries healed and most of Red's did too. I don't know why I didn't do that sooner. They looked at me shocked, but said nothing.

She sat up and looked at me. "Jase . . . where are we?" she asked.

"Marlin's sister's house." I said. She nodded.

"Thanks." she said quietly to Marlin and Ria, getting up.

"Here. You can borrow one of my shirts." Annie, Marlin's sister, said to Red, going upstairs.

"Red, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I said quietly. She smiled slightly and shook her head.

"You did what you had to. I would've done the same thing. There was nothing else to do." she replied.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I'm fine." she said, shrugging.

I shivered slightly. It's freezing down here. But it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm not wearing a shirt.

Just then, Annie came back down, handed Red a shirt. "Thank you." she said quietly, then headed into a corner where we couldn't see her and changed her shirt, coming out and handing me mine. I threw it on and looked at her.

"Our parent's want to know when we'll be home." I said. She looked at me.

"I'm not going home." she said.

"You should at least call your parents." I said. She shrugged.

"I don't want to talk to them." she replied. "Hey Annie, where's the bathroom?" she asked.

"Here, I'll show you." she said. The two of them walked upstairs.

"Jason? What happened to you two?" Marlin asked. I sighed.

"It was just hydra being the evil organization that they are." I muttered.

"Okay. Well, you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you need to." Annie said, coming back downstairs with Red.

"No, no, it's fine." I said.

"Really. This happens all the time. Ria is practically another sister at this point. We have four guest rooms upstairs. I used to be an agent, but when Charlotte was born I just decided to offer up my house as a safe zone for other agents on the move." she explained.

"Thanks, but really, it's fine. You have a daughter and everything." Red protested quietly. She's been doing everything quietly.

"Then where are you going to stay? The plane?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Sure. It's stacked with foods and everything." I said.

She shook her head. "Teenagers." she muttered. "Well, you're staying the night. Neither of you is in any condition to go anywhere." she told us.

"But-"

"No buts. I'll show you guys the guest rooms." she said.

I looked at Red who was already looking at me. "Um, Annie? They can share a room." Ria said.

Annie just shrugged, probably used to strange needs. "Sounds good to me. But no funny business." she said pointedly. We blushed.

"Awww Annie. I need to tell you all the things we do to them." Marlin said, grinning.

"Oh yes. They're so easy to make fun of." Ria added.

I looked at them. "Really?" I asked. They smirked. All three of them.

"Yes." They all said. I rolled my eyes. Red stayed silent. Which is strange. She was staring off into space with an unfocused look in her eyes.

I nudged her lightly and she glanced at me. She just shrugged. Marlin and Ria were going over the data we had collected from the mainframe. At least we managed to do that.

I sighed and leaned back against the wall, and Red looked at me. "Why did you give Uncle Phil's name?" she asked me quietly. I looked at her blankly. "When they asked you." she said.

"Well, they already knew about him, and I didn't know if they knew about Eddie yet, so I decided to just go with it." I said, shrugging.

She leaned back on me tiredly. "Okay. I was just wondering." she said, her voice still barely above a whisper.

"Why don't you want to go home?" I asked her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.

She put her hands over mine. "I don't know. I just- I don't want to explain myself to any of them. I don't want to deal with any of that." she said.

"Okay. We don't have to go home." I said.

"Are you sure he's dead this time?" she asked me after a few moments of silence.

"Yes. He has to be. He basically burned to death." I said, muttering the last part.

"Good. I can't believe he survived the first time. I checked for a pulse and everything. He was _dead._ " she said.

"I don't know. He's gone now, right? That's all that matters." I said.

She sighed lightly. "Yeah. I'm so tired." she said.

"Me too." I said.

"Should we let them know that we're not coming back?" she asked.

"Probably, but we shouldn't tell them why. They'd just try to convince us to come home." I replied.

"Yeah. We just have to tell them that we're going to be 'going on missions' some more." she said.

"So lie to them." I said. She glanced back at me and shrugged.

"Basically." she responded.

"Okay." I said.

"Hey guys, we're going to head to bed now." Ria said, gesturing for us to follow her.

"Okay." We said, following her upstairs.

Annie pointed to a room. "There's yours. Marlin's is on the right, Ria's is on the left." she said.

"Okay, thanks." Red said. She smiled at us.

We went in and looked around, from habit I guess. Red just got under the covers and curled up, not bothering to change. I raised an eyebrow at her and she did the same back.

"Are you going to go to sleep or not? Because I'm going to sleep without you otherwise." she said, although we both know she won't.

"Okay okay, coming." I said, laughing. I got in next to her and she smiled slightly.

"See? This is better. The bed is supposed to be weighed down a lot more on one side of me, I can't sleep without it like that." she said.

I smiled. "Are you calling me fat?" I asked her.

She smirked. "No. I doubt there's any fat on you." she said. "Now stop talking. I'm exhausted." I smiled and we fell asleep just like that, within minutes.


	16. Doubts

**Hello guys! Honestly this chapter made me so emotional on so many levels. I need to get myself a Jason Smith. Being real here guys. Anyway, enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

I woke up and glanced outside, panicking for a moment before I remembered where I was at. It was still dark outside, and I would guess that I'd only been asleep for an hour. Jase was still fast asleep next to me.

I sighed and shifted closer to him. During the past hour I had somehow moved all the way to the side of the bed, about to roll off. I brushed some hair out of his face and smiled slightly. He had a smile on his face.

He honestly looks so different from how he did when he was younger. He acts the same, he just looks different. He's so much taller. He's always been taller than me once we hit puberty. Although when we were really little I was taller than him, then we evened out, and then suddenly he hit puberty and grew twenty bazillion inches. I don't think I'll ever get over that either.

Why do guys sleep without shirts on? It's quite distracting. I mean, how am I supposed to go to sleep when his freaking abs are staring me right in the face? And on top of that, him turning around does nothing. His back muscles are just as perfect as the rest of him. It's a little annoying. I should make him sleep with a shirt on.

Even his neck looks good. How that works, I have zero idea. What I do know is that somehow, somewhere, when I wasn't looking, Jase got extremely hot. And let's be real, he's always been the best looking guy in the entire tower. To me anyway. I will never admit any of this to his face of course.

I hate this. He keeps getting put in these difficult situations where he has to make difficult decisions where there is no good solution to the problem, and then afterwards he always takes the guilt on himself. I try telling him that it's not his fault, but he doesn't listen. But I'll keep trying, for as long as it takes.

When did I actually end up falling in love with him? I realized I liked him when I was ten. Our first actual kiss that actually counts was when we were twelve. I think it had to be when I was thirteen. I remember he told me that he loved me first. And I responded, but neither of us really thought about it. It was the next day when we realized that we had just confessed our love for each other and it didn't even faze us.

So it was awkward for a day before we talked about it and now we tell each other this at least three times a day if not more.

He and I used to be really close to the rest of our friends. Even though we still lived together, once our lives started getting screwed up, we started drifting away from them. They still have relatively normal lives. Yeah, they've seen battles and attacks, but they also still go to school and hang out at the mall and do normal kid stuff. The kind of stuff I wish I could do.

Out of all of the couples, the only one nobody saw coming was Alana and Tanner. Alana has always been the crazy outgoing one that can either be terrifying or bubbly. Tanner, while he enjoys pranking and has a dry sense of humor just like his dad, has always been the quieter Stark twin.

And then Alana went and dyed her hair and got all those piercings, and we were all completely shocked. A year later, she kissed him. And then they had this awkward stage where they weren't dating but they were more than friends and they kissed occasionally. It was strange.

Elliot and Dianna, well, we have always shipped that. Honestly they're so cute. Elliot can be so immature at times, but he's also like the big brother of the group. Dianna is the most down to earth, sensible person until she eats sugar. Then she goes insane. So I think they balance each other out. Dianna and Alana were always best friends, so when she started dating Elliot, it was a little strange.

As for Sarah and Johnny, well they're adorable. Sarah is a fangirl. That's the only way I can describe her. Johnny is a sensible guy for the most part, but he's not boring either, as in he has a sense of humor.

Naomi and Robert are the science nerds. Everyone knew they were meant to be, and on top of that, I'm pretty sure both Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce have been shipping them since before either was even born.

I looked into their thoughts. Dianna is sick and attempting to go to sleep, having stolen both Elliot's sweater and bed. The rest of the eight are in the kitchen discussing Lana's piercings. My sister and Jack are somewhere else, playing with Nina. I miss Nina and Riley. I got up and stood next to the window, staring at the stars that were clearly visible.

I sighed and made a split second decision. It's around lunch time in New York right now, so I'm going to text Alana and explain the situation. I texted her and just as I predicted, a few minutes later I got a phone call from Sarah.

I answered her and I'm not going to lie and say that I won't miss them.

I'm going to miss all of them so much. I do miss all of them so much. I'm especially going to miss Riley and Nina.

I feel a little selfish. Okay, a lot selfish. Jase has a little sister at home. A little sister and a niece. And how is she going to feel when she realizes she grew up without him? Crappy. I would know, because that's exactly how I felt when I realized I had an older sister.

I felt, still feel, like i wasn't good enough for her. Even though it's so illogical, I still feel like somehow I wasn't enough to make her stay. And I know, l and everyone else knows, that Jase loves Nina. Nobody will ever doubt that except her herself. And then me, knowing exactly what that feels like, is willing to put her through that?

I could feel the tears welling up but I just want them to go away. As much as I love Jase, sometimes I wish he wasn't in my life just so he isn't dragged with me into all of my problems. Sometimes I wish, for his sake, that I could just disappear somewhere where stupid Hydra could do whatever they want to me and not hurt him. But I know that would never work.

Even if I disappeared, I would never, ever, stop loving him. And Hydra would use that against me, and he would get hurt. I hate this. I hate it more than I hate anything at all.

I meant what I told Sarah. I don't care. I could die, and I would have no regrets. The only reason I can't is because I need to be here for Jase. The only reason I can't is because it'll hurt him if I do. And that's the last thing that I want.

I could feel the tears falling but it doesn't matter. I miss my friends. I miss my normal life. I miss having a life.

I miss my mom and dad and Juliana. I miss Riley and Nina. I miss Nat and Eddie. I miss all my surrogate Aunts and Uncles. I even miss Jack, as much as I hate the idea of my baby sister dating anybody.

Oh god, my baby sister. She was freaking kidnapped and I just left her without even getting to talk to her or anything. I'm such a terrible person. I know what these things feel like, yet I do them anyway.

I'm so stupid. I'm such an idiot. How could I do that to her? The tears were flowing at this point. We'll go home eventually. It's not like we're staying away forever. It'll be a few months at most. You know what. I can do this.

 _Take care of my baby sister for me, Jack. Otherwise I will actually kill you._ I thought to him. He was startled all right.

But then I realized that she hasn't been talking to anyone recently and has been increasingly irritable and unpredictable and grim and she's supposed to be sunshine and rainbows.

I sank down and just cried. After a few minutes I felt Jase get up and sit next to me, putting his arm around me. I just put my face in his shoulder and cried some more.

After a few minutes I stopped myself and dried my eyes. I looked at him and smiled.

"I love you so much." I told him. He smiled back.

"I love you too." he said. He didn't ask about why I was crying, and honestly, if he did, I don't know how I would answer.

I leaned back against him and stared out the window at the sky. It was starting to get lighter and you could barely see the sun rising. You can't really see the stars in New York.

I could feel my eyes closing. "How long have you been up for?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe an hour? Two? I'm not sure." I said.

He sighed. "You could've woken me up." he told me.

I smiled. "No. You looked so peaceful." I said, then I remembered something. "You have to start sleeping with a shirt on."

"Why?" he asked. I smirked slightly but didn't respond. "It gets so hot at night. And besides, I haven't slept with a shirt on since I was five and still wore actual pajamas, except when we were younger." he said.

I laughed. "I'm kidding. I was just thinking that earlier." he raised his eyebrows at me but said nothing. "Do you remember that pair of captain America pajamas Uncle Tony got me as a joke? I loved those." I said.

"Yeah. Do you remember when Alana gave the twins Ironman onesies for their 16th birthday?" he asked.

"Of course I do. I think I also remember your favorite pair of pajamas." I teased him.

"No. We're not going to bring that up." he said.

"They were dinosaur pajamas that Nat got you." I said. He sighed.

"I don't like reliving that period in time." He complained.

"Too bad. I enjoy it. You used to call them your Dino Jammies and refused to take them off sometimes. You used to be so cute." I teased.

He looked at me. "I can think of plenty of embarrassing stories from when you were younger. There was that teddy bear, what did you name it? Mrs. Cuddles? And you refused to leave the tower without it." he said. I blushed slightly. "And you couldn't go to sleep without it either. You claimed that it could talk and eat until you were five. And even after you realized it couldn't talk, you still clung to it like a lifeline." he teased me back.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed. "I love you." he said.

"I love you too." I replied, kissing him lightly. I glanced outside, the sun had already risen.

I sighed. "Well, we should get going soon." I said, crossing my legs over his.

He looked at me. "You already told them that were not coming back?" he asked. I nodded, not surprised he knew.

"How'd they react?" he asked.

"The usual. Tell us to come back, ask us what we're going to do, you know." I said nonchalantly.

He sighed. "Yeah. I'm going to miss everyone."

"Me too." I said, we stared outside some more. It's really beautiful outside right now.

"Red?" he asked me. I looked up at him. "You know I don't regret any of this right?" he asked.

I'm seriously starting to question who the mind reader is around here. He can honestly see straight through me. "Yeah. I know." I replied. He smiled slightly and stayed silent.

I could feel my eyelids closing once again. But honestly, I can't help it. I'm comfortable and tired. I could fall asleep right here right now but we have to go soon. We can't stay here for too long otherwise Hydra might find us again. We can't put Annie in danger.

I sighed and stood up, pulling my hair back. "We really should get going. As soon as Annie wakes up we should leave." I said.

He looked at me. "Okay. Where do you want to go first?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

He shrugged also. "I don't care." he said.

"Well then, we'll just have to decide on the way." I said. He stood up and threw on a shirt.

"Forgetting something?" I asked him amusedly. He looked at me confused. "You're not wearing pants." I told him, laughing. He looked down and laughed.

"Whoops. Might want those." he said, grabbing a pair.

"Doofus." I muttered.

He smirked at me. "Are you going to call me that for the rest of our lives?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Just shut up and kiss me." I said, pulling him down by the shirt to my level. He complied willingly and kissed me firmly.

We haven't had time for this in so long. I released his shirt and put my arms around his neck.

"You remember she told us no funny business, right?" Jase murmured against my lips.

"Then we won't do any funny business." I replied, smirking, and then I kissed him again.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and I wish I could freeze time in this moment when everything is kind of perfect and I can forget about all the things that aren't.

Thinking back on our relationship, we never did those normal couple-y things. Like going to the movies and having that awkward tension, or having that awkward first kiss, or awkward first date. Things never were awkward between us. Well, there was that time when we were eleven ish and we both had serious crushes on each other but refused to acknowledge it.

I wish we could've had a normal life. You know, going to school, stuff like that. We had a few moments of normalcy, but even then, we had issues. Things like how in gym they wanted us to wear shorts but I would always wear leggings or yoga pants. Weird things like that.

I pulled away from him. "I think we should actually leave now." I told him, sighing.

He looked at me. "I think we still have time." he said. I looked into his dark eyes.

"If you say so." I relented, because honestly, I don't want to leave, I just don't want to put Annie in danger. But then something struck me suddenly. "Jase, they injected me with the pain enhancing serum. They injected me with stuff. We don't even know what's in the stuff." I said.

"Shoot." He muttered.

"I know. So we have to figure out what's in it. For all we know they're tracking me." I said.

"We have to leave. Now." he said.

I nodded and we were moving fast, grabbing everything we needed and running downstairs, keeping quiet so we wouldn't wake anybody up.

I wrote a note quickly for them and left it on the kitchen counter, and we headed outside onto the plane.

"We were wondering when you guys would leave." Ria said, she and Marlin standing in the loading dock of the plane as the door opened.

"Guys, there may or may not be a tracker in me at the moment. You need to leave." I said.

They rolled their eyes. "Nope. How do you think you're going to get it out and disable it? We're coming with you." Marlin said.

"But-"

"No buts. We're coming." Ria said.

"Fine, but we have to go _now._ " Jase said and we all walked in the plane and Marlin went to set the course for who knows where.

"Jade, go sit down there. I'm going to draw a blood sample them run an X-ray and then a few scans to see if there is a tracker." she instructed. I did as she said and she immediately started.

I saw the needle and tensed. She looked at me. "Are you okay with me using this?" she asked. I bit my lip and nodded.

It's necessary. But then she put it in my arm and I went unconscious.

When I regained consciousness she had already taken all the tests she needed to. Jase was standing next to me. I groaned. I have a terrible headache right now. "How long was I out?" I asked.

"Just half an hour." he replied. "She's done though."

"Well it looks like you have a tracker in you arm. But it's deep in there. I don't know how we can get it out without completely doing surgery." she told me.

I groaned. "Can't I like, telekinetically move it somewhere where you won't have to do surgery?" I asked.

She looked at me. "Actually, that might be possible." she said. "Well I'll get the image up so you can see where it is, I'll tell you what to avoid, and you can probably move it to a more accessible area so I can pull it out."

I nodded and she got the image up. "Okay, this is a live image. You'll be able to see it moving. So try moving it." she said.

I moved it a little and hissed in pain. That hurts like crazy. I moved it a little more and a little more until it was right under the skin.

She looked at me. "Okay, it's right where you want it to be. I'm going to go in, cut the skin, and pull it out, okay? You're going to need stitches there afterwards." she said. I nodded again.

She carefully cut open my skin and used tweezer like things, forceps? To pull it out. I grit my teeth as it came out. It was over quickly though.

Then my eyes widened. "It's a freaking time bomb. Where are we?" I asked.

"Above a large city. Can't drop it." she said.

"Shoot." I muttered. Marlin grabbed it from The table and started tinkering with it.

"I can't disable it. Not here anyway. There's a chance it could blow up." he said.

"But there has to be some way. What if we compressed it? Or could we just destroy it without it exploding?" Jase asked.

"I don't know. It would have to be fast, lightning fast, otherwise it'll blow as soon as the method of destruction touches it." Marlin replied.

"Would fire be fast enough?" Jase asked.

"No. It would have to be lightning fast." Ria said.

"How about combining our powers. Would that work?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. But it's still very risky. You might die because it could have a ricochet effect." Marlin said.

"Okay. What do we do?" Jase asked.

"You and her have to work in perfect synch, otherwise you'll die. You have two minutes left, so hurry. Jade, use your telekinesis to make it explode on itself, try to compact the material as small as you can, and at the same time, Jason, you have to put fire on it, as hot as you can make it." Marlin instructed.

We nodded and got in position. We looked at each other and at the exact same moment we started working. It shrunk until it was barely visible, and was burning. And then it blew up. It was a small explosion, but it was enough to char our fronts, and our shirts were basically burnt and barely being held together. I wiped my eyes carefully and looked at Jase.

I laughed. "You look ridiculous." I said. He stuck his tongue out at me.

"You do too." he said. I batted my eyelashes.

"I thought you said I always look pretty?" I asked, referring to our conversation long ago.

"Yeah. I never said you didn't look pretty, I just said you look ridiculous." he said.

"Gee thanks." I said, but I couldn't hold back a grin.

Ria coughed. "My god. You two are insufferable." she said. I smiled brightly at her.

"The smoke is going to my head." I informed her.

"Yeah. We couldn't tell." Marlin said sarcastically.

"Where did you set the plane for?" Jase asked.

"Manhattan." he said. We glanced at each other.

"I'll change it." I said, heading into the cockpit.

I could hear Jase following me. "I don't trust you to fly the plane. Last time you did that you almost killed us." he teased.

"Uhuh. Surrreeeee. You just want to make out in the cockpit." I teased him back.

He shrugged. "Guilty as charged." he said.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Wow. No arguments there." I said. He laughed.

"Nope." he agreed.

"So. Where to?" I asked, getting in the pilot's seat. I'm flying this thing and not getting distracted this time.

"I don't know. Far away preferably." He said, getting in next to me.

"Very specific." I muttered, setting it for a location that I'm not thinking about. I looked down and saw London. That'll do for far. At least for now.

"London?" He asked amusedly. I shrugged.

"It's what my instinct was telling me." I replied. He raised his eyebrows.

"Instinct?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes. Instinct." I replied.

"I don't think it's a good idea to rely on instinct." He told me.

"I'll have you know that my instincts are spot on." I said.

"Okay. But logically your instincts can't be right all the time." He said.

"Like I told all of your friends, my logic is unique." I said.

"Logic can't be unique."

"Mine is."

"That makes no sense. Logic is a constant." He replied.

"Not in my case." I said, smirking.

"Red, logic is something that doesn't change. It's a basic rule of life." He said, getting slightly riled up.

I looked at him. "Well, I don't like rules. So I'm going to change this one."

"But you _can't._ " He told me.

I turned my whole body in the chair and folded my arms, smirking. "Try me." I challenged him.

"Okay. Gravity is the force pulling everything towards the center of the earth. That's logic. Try and argue with that." He said.

"Not everything." I said, making all the objects in the room float to the ceiling.

"But gravity is still acting upon them, you're just adding more force to overcome it." He argued.

"Even so, Gina can reverse gravity. So whatever she uses her powers on gets its gravitational pull changed so everything could start going up or in other directions." I refuted.

He opened his mouth to argue and then shut it, clearly rethinking his life choices. "Don't feel bad. I'm always right. It's one of my many charming traits." I said.

He laughed and leaned his head on my shoulder. "I think the smoke did get to your head." He said.

I smirked. "Nope. This is just me trying to get on your nerves." I teased him. He rolled his eyes at me and lifted his head off of my shoulder.

"Why? What did I do?" He asked me.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." I told him. "I just felt like bothering you." I said. He fell back, his head landing in my lap, looking up at me.

"Why? I thought you loved me." He said overdramatically. This time I rolled my eyes at him.

"I do." I replied, running a hand through his hair. He hasn't cut in a while, and it's growing quite long. Well, not too long. But still longer than normal. I like it. "I like your hair like this." I informed him.

He looked up at me curiously. "It's too long." He said.

"I know." I replied. "I still like it. It feels nice." I told him. He smiled and I continued to play with his hair.

"I'm going to ask you a hard question. You don't have to answer." He said.

"Okay. Go for it."

"Why are you scared?" He asked me. I sucked in a breath. "You don't have to tell me." He said.

I shook my head. "No. I don't know. I just feel like something could go seriously wrong right now and we couldn't do anything to stop it." I said. He met my eyes.

"There's more though, isn't there?" He asked. I sighed.

"Can you somehow read minds or something?" I asked him. He gave me a look. "Okay. I'm scared. I don't even know why. I'm just really anxious and terrified and I don't know what of." He sat up and looked at me.

"I don't know either. But we're going to be okay." He told me. His eyes looked darker than normal.

"Are we though? I mean, we've been saying that for years, but things have only been getting worse." I said.

He looked me in the eyes. "How much worse could things get? Honestly. We've basically survived through anything and everything the world could throw at us. And even if they do get worse, we'll live through it, just like we always do."

"Is it even worth it though? Living through it, I mean. If we do we just keep getting everything thrown at us like crazy. Wouldn't everything just be easier if we don't keep doing this?"

"No. It wouldn't be. Not for the people who care." He said.

"I know. Sometimes I wish they didn't care. Then I wouldn't have to continue putting them in danger." I said, not looking at him.

He sighed. "So that's what you're afraid of." He said quietly. "Listen to me. I'm never going to stop caring, and I'm never, ever going to regret that."

I looked at him. "No. You can't say that. You can't say never."

"About this? Yes I can." He replied, looking me dead in the eyes.

"You need to wake up. I don't even get it. Why do you love me? There's nothing to love, and even if there was, it's not worth it. You're going to get yourself killed. You've already almost died way too many times because of me." I said, practically yelling.

"I love you because you don't give up. Because you're the only person in the world who has ever understood me. Because you're beautiful. You're kind and caring. You're not self-absorbed although you have every right to be. You respect people's privacy even though it's so easy for you to not. You never back down from a fight. You value other people's lives over your own. You've saved my life so many times. Do I need to go on? I love every single little thing about you" He said, totally calm. "You're worth it." He said.

I was speechless for a moment. "I love you so much. You have no idea how much." I said, my eyes shining with tears.

"I love you too." He replied. I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, still kind of choked up.

"Don't be." He replied. "I love you okay? And I'm never going to stop."

"I know." I replied, looking at him, placing my hands on his cheeks. He put his hands over mine and I kissed him.

This wasn't a fast or rushed kiss. It was slow and sweet and it was like we were both putting every ounce of emotion into this. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I literally love him more than I've ever loved anybody or anything in my life. And I'm okay with that.


	17. Normal People

**Hello friends! Once again, the waits have been getting longer. I might start writing shorter chapters just so I can update more frequently. Here's a new chapter for y'all. Enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

We had just landed in London so we got off the plane and looked around. "We need a place to stay for a while." I mused.

"We could rent one big apartment?" Red suggested. "The four of us could all fit there, and money won't be a problem."

"Sounds good to me. I've always wanted to buy an apartment." Ria said.

"Okay. We'll split the rent." Marlin agreed.

We grabbed our stuff, whatever little there was, although this is the bus 2.0 so most of our stuff is on here anyway.

"So guys, something you should know. We're not planning to go back home for a while. In fact, we're not planning to even see or talk to them for a while either. We're not going to affiliate with SHIELD either because our parents are kind of high up there." I said.

They shrugged. "Okay."

"You guys are cool with that?" Red asked them. They nodded.

"Well, yeah. We kind of assumed as much when you didn't end up going home." Ria said. "Now let's go find an apartment. I've always wanted to do this!"

"Same. Let's go." Red said, and she and Ria got in the front two seats and started talking all about real estate and interior design.

Marlin and I got in the back and we drove out. "JARVIS, where is an apartment for rent with three bedrooms, three bathrooms?" Red asked.

"Three miles from here." JARVIS replied.

"Cool. Can you possibly work out all the details?" she asked.

"Yes Ms. Rogers." The AI responded.

"That is so cool. Oh my god." Marlin said, staring at the console for the car.

"Marlin, sit back." Ria chided.

"Okay okay." he muttered, sitting next to me.

"So. What's the longest you've been away from home?" Marlin asked.

"2 weeks. Well, we had to go home, because I wasn't exactly . . . Stable." Red answered.

"Oh. How long have you guys been together?" Ria asked.

"Is this an interrogation?" I asked them. They laughed. "It's been six years."

"Wow. You know, if you were older, you would probably getting married at this point." Marlin said, grinning.

"Um no. We'll do that later." Red told him.

"Five years later, actually." I specified.

"How do you-"

"We've seen the future." I told them. Their jaws dropped.

"Whoa! So do you guys have any kids in the future?" Ria asked excitedly.

"Yeah. In about a year actually." Red said nonchalantly.

"What?! Is it a boy or a girl?" Marlin asked.

"Both. Triplets. Two boys and one girl." I said.

"Wow. Triplets at age nineteen. I would kill Jason now if I was you." Ria joked. Red laughed.

"Yeah, maybe I should." she joked back.

"Hey! I'm still here!" I protested.

"We know. That's the point." Ria told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Dude, just ignore them." Marlin advised me. I sighed. "So, when did you two have your first kiss?"

"When we were six." Red answered.

"How did that happen?" Ria asked.

"Well, we were on the playground and Jase was being a doofus and thought that his friends would make fun of him because I was his best friend so I got upset at him and then he apologized and I kissed him." Red summarized.

"You two are so cute." Ria gushed.

"We're here." Red said, and we all got out of the car. We walked in.

"Oh hello. Ms. Allen?" The man at the desk asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Red responded coolly. I raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"Okay, your apartment is the one on the far left. You have all the accommodations listed when you paid your first amount of rent." he said.

"Thank you." she replied, and we walked upstairs.

"Do you have false identification for all of us?" I asked her.

"For you and I? I do. I'll make some for them while we're here." she replied, keeping her voice low.

"Why did you make me false identification?" I asked.

"Emergencies. Just in case we needed it." she replied nonchalantly, as though making false IDs is a perfectly normal thing.

"Alright, here it is." she said. We walked in and out jaws dropped. It was huge. You could even see an ensuite pool. There were stairs leading upstairs. I had heard London didn't have large homes because it's such a crowded city, and that apartments were usually condensed, so I don't know how Red got her hands on this.

"Okay, we're going to take the master. Sound good? All the bedrooms are in this hallway." she said, leading us down there.

"This is amazing! How did you find something like this?" Ria asked.

"I didn't. I asked JARVIS to. Also, he won't tell Uncle Tony where we are." She said, to me.

"Okay. Let's put our stuff away." I said. We walked into our room and I was stunned. "Man. This is nicer than home." I muttered.

"JARVIS has good taste." She said, smiling. "I think that was Aunt Pepper's doing though."

"Probably." I agreed.

I sat on the edge of the bed. "I feel kind of bad dragging Marlin and Ria into this." I said.

She shrugged. "Me too, but to be fair, they technically dragged themselves into it." She replied, sitting next to me.

"Yeah. Also, we haven't gone swimming in a long time. And now there's a pool in our backyard." I said.

"I know. We should do that. Go swimming." She said.

"I'm not sure if I have my shorts." I said, thinking.

"You do." She said. I looked at her slightly shocked.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Standard SHIELD clothing comes with casual swimming clothes." She replied.

"Okay. I was kind of creeped out." I muttered.

"I know." She said, smirking. "This should be fun. We get to act like normal teenagers for a while." She said.

"Question though. What do normal teenagers do exactly? Because I have no clue." I said. She laughed.

"I don't really know. Actually, on second thought, I do know one thing they do a lot." She said, smirking.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused. She kissed me and then pulled away. "Oh. That's what you meant." I said.

"Doofus." She said, laughing.

"I know." I said, kissing her again.

(ALANA POV)

It's early in the morning but I can't sleep. I got out of bed and washed up. I looked in the mirror, and sometimes I don't even recognize myself. I have blue hair now, and it pretty much matches my eyes.

My eyes have always been a slight insecurity for me. They're very pale and bright and contrast a lot with my skin. I've learned to accept them of course, but I don't even know where they came from. Both of my parents, all of my grandparents, every ancestor as far as my parents know, have had brown eyes.

When I was younger I had hair covering one of my eyes, it was long and purple. I've never had a problem with my hair, I had just wanted to do that. I decided I wanted to put on makeup today. Usually I don't, but today I want to. My dark circles look horrendous.

I did that, then changed and went downstairs. I turned on the TV and sat there vegetating in front of it. I'm too tired to do anything else.

I could hear someone walking in and I wanted to tell them, whoever it is, to leave. I don't want to socialize. I want to sit here and vegetate. God people. Just let me vegetate.

It was Tanner, and he could probably tell that I wasn't in a talking mood, because he just sat next to me and didn't say a word. We sat there for a while staring at the TV before I turned it off and looked at him.

He looked at me curiously. I just kept staring at him. He raised his eyebrows. "Lana, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm bored." I said.

"Did you eat breakfast?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Nope."

"C'mon. Let's go out." He said.

"Where?" I asked.

"shawarmas." he said. I grinned.

"Let's go." I said. We went outside and got into his car. We drove out into the city and quickly arrived in front of it.

Tanner's the one who introduced me to shawarma in the first place. But now it's probably my favorite thing in the world besides my tattoo.

We walked in and sat down, about to eat when Uncle Tony called Tanner.

"Hey dad." "No." "Who?" "I've got no idea." "Jade and Jason maybe?" "Yeah." "Okay." "I swear on my life I did not rent an apartment in London." He said, rolling his eyes. "Yes." "I'm getting Shawarmas with Alana." "Do you live to embarrass me? Don't answer that." "Yeah." "I'll ask." "Okay, bye." He said, hanging up.

"Jade and Jason rented a luxury apartment in London." He told me. I grinned.

"Using your dad's money?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, using their own. They just used JARVIS to carry out the transaction or something like that. Uncle Steve, Aunt Tasha, Agent X, and Uncle James are going to find them now apparently. He wants me to call Jason and see what they're doing." He explained.

"Oh wow." I muttered. "I'll call Jade. I'm betting she's the one that did it. She can hack JARVIS with her brain." I said, pulling out my phone.

"Hey Jade." I said.

"Hey Alana." She said.  
"So. I heard you rented a luxury apartment in London." I told her.

"Yeah. We needed a place to stay." She said nonchalantly.

"Under a false ID?" I asked.

"Yes. There's a reason we're not coming home. If we wanted you guys to follow us we would've come home." She replied.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later." I said. "Or not." I muttered.

"We're not staying away forever. Also, tell my parents they won't find us. Thanks." She said.

"Okay, bye." I said.

"Bye." she replied.

(JASON POV)

"Our parents are coming?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course they are. Them letting us live our lives? That's funny." She said irritatedly.

"You do realize they are going to find us right?" I said.

"No they're not." She said.

"They have the address."

"I'll figure it out" She said, glaring at the wall.

"What can you do?" I asked.

"I could make them forget the address." She said.

"Red that's not right. You can't just make people forget things." I told her.

She sighed. "I know. I just can't. I can't talk to them right now. About anything." She said.

"Then you don't have to." I replied.

"That's not- I can't- I can't just avoid them. If they come here I have to talk to them."

"No you don't. Or we can just call them. That might be easier, explain the situation, let them know we're okay, and then hopefully they'll leave us alone." I suggested.

"I guess so." She said, and I picked up the phone and dialed my mom.

"Hey mom." I said.

"Hello Jason. Would you mind telling me what in the world you're doing in London?" She asked.

"We didn't want to come home. So we're here." I replied.

"Why not?" My dad asked.

"Because we just needed to get away for a while." I lied.

"Is Jade there?" I heard Aunt Tasha ask. I looked at her.

"Yes." Red said.

"Why did you rent a luxury apartment under false ID?" Uncle Steve asked.

"One, Hydra is everywhere and looking for us. Two, if we wanted you guys to interrogate us we would've come home." She said.

"We're not interrogating you." My mom said.

"Uhuh. Really?" Red responded.

"Look, can you guys just not come here now? Just give us some time. We're not staying away forever." I said.

"Jason, Jade, at least tell us why you're not coming home." Uncle Steve said.

"I don't want to tell you guys why. Not about anything. Okay? Not now. I'll talk to you guys later." She said, and then she got up and left the room.

"She left the room didn't she?" Aunt Tasha asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "Just don't come. We're fine, we're okay, we have two friends with us too. We'll be fine." I said.

"Okay. Fine. But if you guys get hurt one more time we're grounding you for life." My dad threatened.

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." they said, and hung up. It's late august so it's still very warm outside, and it's sunny and bright.

I walked outside. "Red?" I asked. She was in the kitchen, staring at an apple. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go swimming." She said, getting off of the tall barstool.

"You know, that stool is basically your height." I teased her. She stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'm not that short." She protested.

"Well . . ." I said. She hit my arm lightly.

"I'm not. I'm 5'6. That's above average. You're just a giant."

"Okay. Whatever you say. Let's go swim." I said. We went, changed into our bathing suits and went by the pool. I glanced at her but then did a double take.

I haven't ever seen her wearing a bikini before. Ever. I mean, there was that one time when we were eight, but that doesn't count. She looked at me and smirked.

"Staring is rude you know." She told me laughing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that looking at my girlfriend was rude." I said, grinning. Her smirk grew and she pushed me in, but before I fell I grabbed her and pulled her with me.

She screamed, startled. Then she laughed and moved her hair out of her face.

"You're so mean." She told me.

"You're the one that pushed me in." I replied.

"Yeah, okay." She said, still laughing.

"Want to race?" I asked. She grinned.

"Of course. Even though you have longer legs and arms and thus, an advantage, I'll still win." she said.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. She smirked.

"Yeah." she replied confidently. And then I started swimming away towards the end. "Hey!" she called after me, laughing. We got to the end and then we started.

"One." Me.

"Two." Her.

"Three." Me.

"GO." Her. And then we took off, and it was pretty much neck and neck the whole time.

We were around the middle when I started to get in front of her so she used me to propel herself corsets in front of me and ended up winning by a hair.

"I won!" she said triumphantly.

"You cheated." I told her, smiling.

She shrugged. "There were no rules." she pointed out. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Fine. Let's go again." I said. "With rules."

"Awww you're no fun." she said. And then we started and tied, and the next time I won, and after that she won, and then we tied again.

We were both out of breath by the end of it. "You want to see who can hold their breath for the longest underwater?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"Sure. Just give me a-" She went under and I followed. We looked at each other under water and she sent me a telepathic message.

 _I'm going to try and use my telekinesis on water._ I grinned and she did. I could see the water moving away from us kind of like a giant bubble under water. We could breathe.

"This is so cool." I said. She looked around.

"I know." she said, touching the edge of the bubble. She looked at me.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss under water?" I asked.

"I don't know. Why don't we find out?" she asked, kissing me. I kissed her back and suddenly all the water crashed back on top of us.

Eventually we needed air, so we went back up to the surface. "that was so cool." she said, catching her breath.

I then realized that the sun was already setting. She noticed it too and looked at it.

"Remember how I asked you whether you prefer sunsets or sunrises?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, now you've seen both. Choose." she said.

"I think I like sunsets better." I said, looking at the colors.

"I've changed my mind. The sunrise this morning was beautiful." she informed me. "But sunsets are nice too." she said, looking at it.

I was just looking at her though. She really is beautiful. The sun was reflecting off of her skin and hair, making them both look slightly golden. Her eyes were bright and her dark red eyelashes were still wet.

Eventually the sun set and we had to get out. "Ugh. My fingers are all pruny." she muttered, looking at them. "It feels so weird."

"Everyone's fingers get pruny. It's normal." I said, laughing. She grabbed a towel.

"I'm going to shower." she said. "Chlorine does terrible things to curly hair."

I laughed and followed.

(LATER)

I walked out of the shower and Red was sitting there in sweats and a t-shirt, actually reading something. She hates reading.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked me confused.

"You're reading." I pointed out. She laughed.

"Oh I know. I was so bored." she said, falling back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "What do normal people do when they're bored?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said, thinking.

"We could eat. I suppose while we're doing this we can actually have three meals a day." she suggested.

"Sounds good to me." I said, and we walked downstairs.

Ria was sitting there, on her laptop, and Marlin was also sitting there, on his phone. Both had earbuds in and probably didn't even hear us walk in.

"Do you want to attempt pasta?" she asked.

I grimaced. "Well, um, not really. I think we'd mess it up beyond repair." I said.

"Oh come on. Let's try it." she said.

"Okay fine. But if we burn this place down-"

"Yeah yeah. You can tell me that you told me so." she cut me off, grinning, and then she pulled me into the kitchen.

I sighed and followed her. She pulled out all the ingredients and looked at them.

"Now what?" I asked.

"I have no clue." she said, looking in between all the ingredients.

"Red . . ." I groaned. She looked at me.

"Oh stop it. We should start by boiling the pasta." she said.

"I know how to do that." I said, grabbing a pot, filling it with water, and putting it on the stove. Then I popped in the noodles.

"No you don't. You were supposed to wait until the water is boiling and then add the pasta, also, you need salt." she told me.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Because. I can pick people's brains." she said, moving in front of me and grabbing the salt, dumping some in.

"I'm pretty sure that was wayyyy too much." I said.

"Eh. Should be fine."

"Okay. I'm going to make the sauce. All it is is mixing stuff together." I said.

"Good luck. You're going to need it." she told me. I stuck my tongue out at her. "I'm going to make the chicken."

"Don't give us salmonella." I said.

She gave me a look. "I won't. If anything it'll burn." she joked, grabbing the chicken out.

She wrinkled her nose at it. "It's so slimy." she said, putting it down quickly. I laughed and looked at the sauce.

I'm guessing there's olive oil and garlic, but proportions are kind of unknown to me, so I'm just going to wing it. I tossed in two tablespoons of garlic into the half cup of oil and added some salt and pepper.

I glanced over at her to see her giving the meat a worried look. "Having trouble?" I asked.

She glared at me. "No. I'm not."

"Mmhmm. Okay." I said, "sauce is done."

She looked at it. "Looks decent. I think the noodles are done too." she said.

"Should we taste it?" I asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea." she muttered, looking at them. We mixed everything together and looked at it.

"Um. Well, it doesn't exactly look like what my dad makes, but maybe it tastes better than it looks?" she said, almost like a question.

"Well, I don't want to taste it. Why don't we just let Markin and Ria taste it?" I suggested.

She shrugged. "Better them than us." she said. We called them over.

"Um what is that supposed to be?" Marlin asked.

"Pasta. Try some." Red said, giving them each a plate.

"Yeah, I don't know if this is safe to eat. Will it give us food poisoning? Burn our tongues off with spice? Increase our sodium levels?" Ria asked.

It very well could do all that to her, but she doesn't need to know that. "It won't. Just try some." I said.

They tentatively took a bite and then spit it out, looking at it in horror.

"Oh it can't be that bad." Red told them, taking a bite. Her eyes widened and she spit it out as well. "It is. Oh god it is." she said, going over to the sink and washing her tongue off with water.

"I'm not trying that." I said immediately. Red gave me a look.

"Yes you are. We all ate some." she replied.

"No you didn't. You put it in our mouth and spit it out." I said.

"You're welcome to do that as well." Ria joined in. I looked at Markin for help and he just shrugged.

"You cooked it man." he told me.

"Okay fine." I muttered, taking a single noodle and putting it in my mouth. I cringed and immediately spit it out. "That was nasty." I said, going and drinking three whole glasses of water.

"You only had one noodle and you spit it out. You didn't even get any chicken in there." Red told me, laughing.

"Well look on the bright side. You three are going to get salmonella and I won't." I replied. She stuck her tongue out at me again.

"I can't believe you. You're so immature." she said, shaking her head.

I just raised my eyebrows at her. " _I'm_ the immature one?"

"Yes. Yes you are." she said confidently.

"No I'm not."

"You are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Both of you are immature." Marlin cut in.

We looked at him. "How so?" Red asked him.

"Let me list them. You stick your tongues out at one another several times a day, you engage in childish mannerisms, and you argue over the most obnoxious things." Ria said.

We looked at each other and shrugged. "Fine." I said.

"I guess we are pretty immature." Red agreed.

"But we don't argue really." I said.

"No, we don't." she said. "We're generally agreeable people."

"And we can finish-" I started

"-Each other's sentences." She finished.

"You two make me want to puke from your cuteness." Marlin muttered.

"No, I think that's the pasta." I replied. We all laughed and then I glanced at the time. It's late.

"Well, I think I'm going to sleep now." Ria said.

"Same." Marlin added.

Red looked at me and I can tell she's not going to go to sleep any time soon. Which is good, because I don't think I will either. "I'm not tired. You're not tired. We should do something." She said.

"What should we do then?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. What do normal people do?"

"I don't know. Watch TV?" I asked.

"I guess so. We can use my netflix account. It should still be working." She said, grabbing her phone and going straight to the netflix app, sitting on the couch.

"What show?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"I don't know."

"Me neither. I don't watch TV." I said.

"Same. No time." She agreed. We scrolled through the recommended stuff before coming across a show that looks interesting.  
"Let's try this show." She said.

"The Flash? Sounds cool. Reminds me a little bit of Scarlet." I said. She laughed.

"Yeah, same powers." So we watched the first episode. Then the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. And we didn't stop either.

(LATER)

I woke up and saw Red asleep next to me and her phone on top of her. We had stayed up all night watching the entire first season and I guess we fell asleep at some point. I'm so tired. I picked up her phone and looked at the time only to find that it was eleven in the morning. We had slept in late.

She woke up and blinked at me, then laid back down and closed her eyes. I smiled slightly and got up carefully, trying not to wake her up.


	18. Giving Up

**Hello peoples! How's life going for you all? Here's the new chapter and I hope you enjoy it! The next few will be shorter than normal because I would rather update more frequently than have more content within each chapter. Also, I'm on spring break which means more time to write! YAY!**

(JADE POV)

I woke up and looked around. I was on the couch and Jase had probably gotten up earlier. I groaned and rubbed my eyes, feeling a sharp pain in my stomach. Of course mother nature decides to visit now.

I got up and went to the bathroom, cleaning up and whatnot, until I realized I had zero pads or tampons or anything.

Well this is fun. I can't go out like this. I could send Ria, or I could have some fun with this and send Jase. I think I know what I would rather do.

I walked back into the kitchen and he was sitting on the barstools, doing something on his phone.

"Hey Jase?" I asked. He looked at me and smiled.

"Hey Red. What's up?"

"Would you possibly be able to go out and grab me something?" I asked him, holding back a smirk.

"Sure. What do you need?" He asked.

"Pads." I said, unable to hold back the smirk this time. He went red.

"Um, why exactly can't you do it?" He asked.

"I can't go out in public without one. What if I bleed my pants?" I said. He cringed.

"Right. Can't Ria do it?" He asked.

"She's still asleep." I said. He crossed his arms.

"Do I have to?" He asked.

"Yes. You do." I told him. "It's necessary. C'mon. Didn't you tell me you would do anything for me?"

"Yeah, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind." He replied, still uncomfortable.

"Well look on the bright side, if you do this, everyone will be so envious of me because I have a great boyfriend who's willing to brave social judgement for me." I told him, grinning.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Can't you wait until Ria wakes up? I don't know which ones to get."

"I'll describe them in detail to you. Better yet, I'll give you a mental image." I told him. "You really don't have an excuse." He groaned.

"Fine fine. I'll go." He said, grabbing the car keys.

"Thanks. I love you." I told him.

"I love you too. But you owe me one."

"Okay, okay." I kissed him lightly and he left.

I sighed. Now I get to be uncomfortable and annoyed at the world for a week. Joy.

I grabbed a box of Honey Bunches of Oats and ate some. Then I went and laid down on the couch, groaning. I have no idea where Marlin and Ria are, but I'm not changing out of my sweats.

I turned and tossed, trying to get comfortable, but any and every position I try to get in makes me feel like my insides are being killed.

I sighed and got up again grabbing some water. Just then Jase got back.

"Thank you so much." I said, taking the entire bag from him and running into the bathroom. I came back out and he gave me a look.

"Better?" he asked. I grinned and kissed him lightly.

"Yeah. Thank you." I replied. He sighed.

"That was the most embarrassing thing that I've ever had to do in my life." he complained, sitting on the couch. I sat next to him.

"Oh it's not that bad." I told him, laughing. He gave me a look and I smiled brightly. "Listen. Being a girl is difficult. Once a month blood gushes out of our vaginas because our body was preparing for pregnancy. So anytime we don't get pregnant, this happens. It's like punishment for not getting pregnant." I said.

"I don't need details." he said, looking sick. I smirked, but then I remembered something that made me frown.

"Jase, the triplets are born eleven and a half months from now. That means I get pregnant in like two months." I said.

"Oh god." He muttered. "How are we supposed to do that?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, putting my arm around his neck.

"I mean, how are we supposed to continue living our lives like that? We can't stay on the move constantly, and most likely you'll have to go home. I'm pretty sure air travel is advised against after a certain point." he said, looking at me.

I groaned. "I didn't think about all that."

"You're right. Being a girl sucks." he told me.

I looked at him. "I know right." We stayed silent for a few minutes, staring out the glass window.  
Then Marlin came outside. "Hey guys. Look at what I found." He said, pulling out some electric batons. I could feel Jason tensing up. I got up, took them away from Marlin, and put them in another room.

"Jade, where did you-"

"Just don't bring those here again." I said, giving him a warning look. He glanced at Jason and seemed to get the message, leaving. I don't blame him of course, he didn't know.

"Jase?" I asked. He didn't respond, still staring intensely at the wall. "Jase, look at me. You're not there, you're okay." I told him. He still didn't respond but his breathing was slowing down back to normal. I kept reassuring him until he came back.

He still didn't say anything, just looked at me. I just hugged him tightly and he buried his face in my shoulder. He's had nightmares almost every night for a while now, and I'm very concerned. We sat there silently for a little while before he looked at me.

"Thanks." He said quietly.

"I didn't do anything." I replied.

"I have to tell you something." He told me. "When Hydra had kidnapped both of us, I knew it was going to happen." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I had a nightmare about it the first night I had gotten back." He said. My eyes widened.

"But- I did too." I said quietly.

"What?"

"We both had the same nightmare at the same time." I said. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"That's strange." He muttered. I looked at him.

"Eh. It doesn't matter anymore I guess. I kind of want to forget about all of that." I said, leaning back against him.

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this." He said, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"It'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen? We've already dealt with everything." I muttered.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to deal with it again." He murmured. I looked at him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He replied.

"You're usually the optimistic one, not me." I told him.

"I know. I'm just nervous I guess. Having nothing to do gives me more time to think of all the flaws in this plan."

"Yeah, it does. And this plan isn't perfect by any means, but we'll be fine." I said. "We should do something." I said. "No swimming though."

"Right. Well, we could go out. Didn't you say you wanted to come here last time?" He asked me.

"Yes I did. I guess that's why I subconsciously brought us here. But I don't want to move. I'm so comfortable right now. And believe me, it's not easy to get comfortable."

"I'll take your word for it. What do you want to do then?" He asked.

"I don't know. What even is there to do?" I asked. He sighed and I folded my legs up so my knees were resting on his legs.

"How do normal people survive with nothing to do? I'm so bored and it's only been one day." He said.

"I know right." I said. Then something occurred to me. " What time did we go to sleep last night?" I asked.

"I don't know. We managed to watch the entire first season so pretty late." He replied.

"Right. I should probably change and stuff." I said. "But I don't want to get up." I groaned.

He was silent for a minute, staring at me. I looked at him curiously. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was just thinking." He replied vaguely.

"Well duh. What about?"

"Your hair." He replied. I raised my eyebrows at him. "It's lighter than it normally is."

"Is it? I didn't notice." I said, looking at it. "It was probably the chlorine. How did you notice?" I asked him amusedly.

He shrugged. "I pay attention to these things. Also, I feel like you've shrunk." He teased me. I gave him a look.

"I did not." I said indignantly. "I'm actually not that tiny. You're just twenty billion feet taller."

"I'm actually only 10 inches taller." He corrected. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, _only_ 10 inches." I scoffed.

"Do you have a problem with that?" He asked, smirking.

"Maybe I do." I said stubbornly. He laughed.

"No you don't." He argued, smirking.

"Okay. Maybe I don't." I relented, kissing him lightly.

"I love you." He told me.

"I love you too." I replied. I sighed and actually stood up, totally regretting it afterwards, but it was necessary.

"I'm going to change and eat something. I'll be down in a minute." I said. He nodded and I left.

I changed quickly then walked back out. I went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. Jase walked in a minute later.

"What should I eat?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. What is there?" he asked, looking in the fridge also.

"Nothing. We used all of it for the pasta." I said, moving away from the fridge and quickly braiding my hair. It's actually long enough for me to do that. I've kept it short since I cut it four years ago.

"How do you do that without a mirror?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "It's a gift." I told him, smirking. He laughed.

"Really?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes." I replied. "It really is."

"Okay. What should we eat?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Want to go out and grab something?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Sure. Let's go." he said. We grabbed the car keys and left.

Then I realized something. Everyone else's cars have drivers on the right side. I think this car switches.

I got in the passenger seat and switched the steering mechanisms onto the other side. SHIELD makes good cars.

And then I realized something else. This is a SHIELD car. They can track this. I looked at Jase.

"Jase, SHIELD can track this car." I said, groaning.

"Crap. Okay, we'll just disable any tracking devices." he said.

"It's not that easy." I muttered. "I'm sure we can just walk. It's probably not that far to the nearest place to eat."

"We should probably get rid of the car though." he said.

"Yeah. We should." I sighed and banged my head back against the seat. I want to go cry. I'm so done with all of this. Stupid SHIELD. Stupid parents. It's all stupid.

And then I got a call from my mom. I groaned and picked up. "Jade, Juliana is having a panic attack. What do I do?" she asked quickly, not bothering with greetings. I can feel my anger rising.

"Try and calm her down. Actually, just let me talk to her." I said. My mom did that.

"Ana. Listen to me. You're okay. You're not there." I told her. I could hear her labored breathing as the only response. "Just focus on the sound of my voice. You're going to be fine." I said.

"Jade?" I heard her ask quietly.

"I'm here." I replied. "Just take deep breaths." I could hear her doing that on the other side of the phone until her breathing went back to normal.

"Are you okay now?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." she replied. "Thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." she replied.

"Okay. I love you." I told her.

"I love you too. But when are you coming home?" she asked.

"Soon. I promise." I said.

"Okay. I'll see you then." she said, and then she hung up.

I sighed. I have to go home now. I need to be there for her now. But I just can't. I can't talk to everyone else. I can't tell them what they want to know and I can't act how I'm supposed to act and I can't be who I'm supposed to be.

They don't know me. Not anymore. To be honest, I don't even know me. I can't be who they think I am. I've been very cold and almost cruel to all of them.

Even when they tried, I pushed them away. I know they're scared of me. They try to treat me normally but I didn't accept that either. Honestly I ruined every relationship I've ever had with anybody. My parents, my friends, my friends' parents, everybody.

"Are you okay?" Jase asked me. I looked at him.

"Not really." I muttered. "Whatever, I'll be fine." I said louder.

"No. Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing." I said.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Doesn't sound like nothing."

"Really. I'll be fine." I insisted. But he didn't drop it.

"Why don't you want to go home? Really." he asked. I sighed.

"I wasn't lying to you. I don't want to talk to them." I said, not meeting his eyes.

"Why though?" he asked me.

"Because I can't! I messed up everything so badly with everyone there. I can't go back there and look them in the eyes." I said, still not looking at him.

"Red, they don't care about all that. And if anyone does, well then they aren't worth your time. You don't have care about what they think." he told me.

"But I do. That's the problem. I know I don't have to. I know that I shouldn't. But I do anyway." I muttered. I want to punch something. I don't know if the car can handle that though.

"Look at me." he said calmly. I did. "You don't have anything to be ashamed of. Everything you've said or done to them was justified and not unreasonable. They all know that." he told me.

"Do they though? They don't. They're _scared_ of me Jase. I can't do that." I said.

"Yeah, maybe a little. But at the end of the day, they know who you are. If anything they're scared for you."

"I don't know what to do. I have to go back home. But I can't." I said. I honestly don't even know what to do at this point.

"Well, either you go back to help Juliana or you can stay here."

"Not helping." I muttered.

"I know. Just listen. You could call her everyday. I mean, what's more important to you? Your mental wellbeing, or hers?"

"You're still not helping," I said, giving him a look.

"I'm sorry, but for once I have no idea what to tell you." he said.

"I know. I know. And it's not fair for me to expect you to." I replied, sighing.

"Look. We'll figure it out." he said, grabbing my hand. I pulled it away.

"No. I won't." I replied, getting out of the car. I could hear him following me.

"Red. Where are you going?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I need time to think." I said, not turning back. "Just don't follow me. I'll be back soon."

"No you won't." he said, except he was somehow right behind me. "You know you won't. You'll go do something crazy and regret it afterwards if you're even alive to regret it." I turned around and looked at him. "You keep taking chances and yeah, maybe it's worked out for you before, but one day your luck is going to run out." He looked kind of angry, but more than that he looked very strained.

"I won't do anything crazy. Just trust me." I said.

"I do trust you. I just don't want you to do something you'll regret." he told me. His eyes were dark and for once, I couldn't get a read on him or what he's feeling.

"Jase. I'm not going to do something crazy. What could I even do here? Besides, I don't do regrets." I replied.

"Yes you do." he said. I raised my eyebrows. "You regret a lot of things. I could list them. You just pretend that you don't. You're regretting things right now, that's why you don't want to go home. It's why you were going to walk away just now."

"Okay. Yeah. I pretend a lot of things. But it works doesn't it? If I don't have to accept it, then I'm not going to." I said. "And more than that, I'm not going to keep crying over something that I should've been over by now." I said.

"You haven't really been sleeping have you? The nightmares haven't stopped, you're just not letting yourself have them." he said, gritting his teeth.

"Yes okay! It's easier than waking up every hour and honestly it's basically the same thing. I'm getting no sleep either way."

"Things aren't going to get better like that." he told me.

"Well then how will it? Can't I just forget about it?"

"No you can't. You can push it to the side all you want, but soon it'll come crashing down and it'll be too much. You want to know who said that? You." he said pointedly.

"I know what I said. But I don't know what to do about it. I don't know how to accept it." I said. "It's so much easier to pretend it never happened."

"Yeah. It is easier to give up." he said, looking me straight in the eyes.

I scoffed. "I'm not _giving up_." I replied.

"Yes you are. Refusing to acknowledge your problems, running away from home? You're not even trying anymore. And I get it, it is much easier to just push it to the side. But giving up isn't the way to go about it. I understand not wanting to talk to them about it. I get not wanting to go home. What I don't get is you putting your freaking life on the line because you are giving up. I told you yesterday that you don't give up. Was I right or not?" he asked, challenging me. This could end one of two ways. One of us will say something that we don't mean and the other will blow up, or we'll end up hugging and getting over it. I hope it's the latter.

"I- I have no idea." I said.

"That's okay. Because I do. You've never given up before and I don't think you're going to now. No, I know you're not going to now." He said.

"How can you know that?" I demanded.

"If you meant it at all, everything you've ever said that you believed in your entire life, then I know you won't give up so easily."

I stayed silent. "You're right." I said quietly. He closed the small distance between us, hugging me tightly. I hugged back of course, and I just have no idea what's running through his head right now. There are a million thoughts racing around his brain and I can't discern any of them.

"What's going through your head right now?" I asked him, not moving.

"You can't hear it?"

"You're thinking too many things at once. I can't hear anything." I replied.

"I don't know. There's a lot to think about." he said. I stayed silent.

"It's nice outside." I said.

"Yeah. It is. Do you still want to go get food? Because if not I'm going by myself. I'm starving." he said. I laughed.

"I'm coming." I said. We began walking away from there.

I saw various other couples walking around the streets as well. "Aww we look so normal." I said, smirking.

"I know right." he said.

"We're missing something." I told him.

"What?" he asked, smiling. I grabbed his hand and interlaced my fingers with his.

"There." I said, satisfied. He laughed.

"Yeah. Now we're the epitome of normal." he said.

"Totally. Now we need to find a cafe and eat drink tea in front of it." I joked.

"I don't like tea." he said, laughing.

"Well you can get coffee."

"Hot chocolate?" he asked, grinning.

"Ha ha. Very funny. No."

"Aww cmon. You can't stop me."

"Just watch me." I replied, smirking.

"Why can't I?" he asked.

"You're crazy when you eat chocolate. And frankly, I don't want to deal with that." I told him.

"What if I promised you I won't eat that much?"

"Would you keep that promise?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Have I ever lied to you?" he responded.

"No, you haven't." I said.

"Then? I promise." he said, giving me puppy dog eyes. I don't know how I ever win an argument with this guy.

"Okay fine. But you're paying for it."

"Deal." he said, grinning. I rolled my eyes.

"Doofus." I said. He laughed and kissed my cheek.

"I know. I love you." he said.

"I love you too. Now let's eat. I'm starving." I said. We went and bought sandwiches and we both ended up getting hot chocolate.

As we walked back outside it started raining. I groaned and linked my arm with his.

"We don't have an umbrella do we?" he asked.

"No. But we do have hot chocolate." I said, taking a sip. It was delicious.

"Yeah. It's light rain though."

"It could be worse." I agreed.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate and he smiled.

"What?" I asked him. He looked at me.

"Nothing. I was just remembering the last time we had hot chocolate."

"That was so long ago." I said, smiling.

"Yeah. It was fun though. I think that was the last time we went sledding ever." he said.

"Well, there was that one time." I mused.

"That wasn't sledding. That was getting pushed down a snowy hill." he said, laughing.

"Yeah, but it still counts." I replied.

"No it doesn't. Does getting water dumped on our heads counted as swimming?" he asked.

"That's a totally different situation." I protested.

"No it's not." he argued back.

"Why? Enlighten me." I said.

"Getting pushed down a snowy hill is like sledding in that it has a snowy hill. Getting water dumped on our heads is like swimming in that it has water. However, getting pushed doesn't have a sled and swimming was against our will."

"Right. Totally different." I said.

He laughed. "You're too stubborn." he said.

"Nah. I just like being right." I said, kissing him. He smiled.

"I know." he replied. We walked into the apartment and Ria and Marlin were giving us a look.

"Sink. Dishes. NOW." Ria said, pointing to the full sink. We looked at each other and grimaced.

"Okay okay. Fine." he said. We looked at the dishes warily. It was everything from our pasta making last night.

"We should have brought some of the robots with us." I muttered. Jase laughed.

"You wanted to be normal? Well, this is part of it." Marlin said.

Suddenly I got a text. I looked at it, but it was from an anonymous sender. No phone number, nothing. All it said was that a Hydra exchange is taking place in London at 8:00 tonight during a fancy banquet. I showed it to Jase who grimaced.

"You do realize that this is most likely a trap?" He asked.

I nodded. "Of course I do. Which is why I'm wondering if it's even worth it. I have no idea what to do." I said.

"Me neither. We should trace it." He said.

"Right." I grabbed my phone and grabbed my laptop, then called Sarah.

"Jade?" She asked.

"Hey Sarah. I need to trace an anonymous text." I said.

"Okay, what kind of equipment do you have in front of you right now? Actually, never mind. I'm just going to hack your phone and do it from here." She said.

"Okay." I replied. I could hear the keyboard clicking from over the phone and then I heard her breathing hitch slightly.

"What's wrong?" Jase asked from next to me.

"That phone- the phone belongs to Ward. But he's dead. 100%. We ran a DNA test and everything."

"Are you sure it's Grant Ward? It's not one of his brothers or something?" I asked.

She searched deeper. "You're right. It's Thomas Ward." she said, and I could hear her typing some more. "Apparently he works with the FBI now, but he turned a blind eye to all of his brother's actions because the evil Hydra lunatic had apparently saved Thomas from dying by their older brother, Christian."

"Oh god. Okay." I said.

"You should ask my mom. She's probably the one who knows most about the Ward brothers." She replied.

"Thanks Sarah. You're a lifesaver." I said.

"Any time. Just don't do anything crazy or stupid." She said.

"I've been getting that a lot lately." I said, laughing.

"Yeah, for good reasons too. Stay safe. We'll see you guys soon hopefully. Also Jade, you might want to come home very soon. We're all worried about Juliana. She's not really talking to people except for your parents and Jack." she said.

"I know. I will. Tell her I'll call tomorrow." I said, and I want to punch myself. Why am I not there with her right now? Why am I so selfish?

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up. I looked at Jase.

"So what now? We know it's from a relatively secure source." I said.

"I think we should go for it. Just get rid of this problem. It's really not safe to let Hydra continue to be in London when we're so close by."

"True. Let's just do it then. Although, we're going to need proper disguises. Nanomasks, fancy outfits, skin makeup to cover my scars. You know." I said.

"Okay. Well, we have all that other stuff here, we just need clothes." He replied.

I smiled brightly. "Great. You're going to need a suit and I'm going to need a fancy dress and probably heels." I said. "I hate dresses but I get to force you to come shopping with me so it's definitely worth it."

"Oh great. Sounds fun." He said sarcastically.

I ignored the sarcasm. "It will be. Now let's go." I said.


	19. The Banquet

**Hello my friends! Here's a new chapter! I'm sorry the wait is just getting longer and longer for the Agent X story, but to be honest, I'm having trouble writing filler chapters. I have scenes planned out but they're rather short, 1k-2k words usually. So I think the next chapter will be longer because I made you guys wait so long for it, but after that the chapters will be maybe 1k-2k. I also have many oneshots already written that I'm going to post today! Enjoy! :)**

(JASON POV)

Well this is fun. Note the sarcasm. Red is forcing me to buy a suit. I haven't worn one of these since the Avenger's banquet. Oh, that was a lot of fun. It was a few months ago actually. We had been forced to attend even though none of us wanted to, as it was a bunch of stuffy adults who were doubting our capability to protect the world from alien dangers. Pssh.

That was the first and last time I had seen Red wearing a dress. Ever. And she was complaining the entire time too. Honestly, suits are way more uncomfortable, at least in dresses they have free movement.

And she complains about heels too, but I don't understand why girls even wear them anyway. It's not necessary. How do they walk in them? Anyway, the banquet gave us all self esteem issues. They asked us a lot of questions. We were also mobbed by paparazzi. I feel terrible for Tanner and Naomi, because apparently this happens to them all the time. I think Alana punched one of them who asked if Tanner would consider dating anyone outside of the tower.

They asked us things like if we thought we could carry on our parent's legacy, if we were strong enough to deal with the mental traumas that came with the job, as we had lived such _normal_ lives. I responded asking if they were educated enough on our so called normal lives to ask us anything. And then they didn't back off.

And then, of course, being the Stark twins, they pranked them.

"Jase! Hello? Anyone there?" Red asked me. I looked at her and she looked exasperated. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

"Sorry. I zoned out." I said.

"Noooooo. I didn't realize." She said sarcastically, glaring at me. I smiled sheepishly and she shook her head and gave me something. "Go try those on. I'm going a block over to find a dress. You better leave here with one that fits nicely. And shoes. And no, they can't be Vans. Nice dress shoes." She said sternly. I just nodded and she left.

"Is she forcing you to go somewhere fancy?" A teenaged guy asked, looking very similar to me. Holding a bunch of fancy clothes and looking miserable.

"Well no. But she is forcing me to wear fancy clothes." I said. He shrugged.

"Same thing. I'm Ryan." he said.

"I'm Jason. Nice to meet you." I said.

"Well, we should probably try these things on before they kill us." He said.

"Good idea." I said. We went to try them on.

(LATER)

I met Red a few stores down where she was getting shoes and she looked at me. "Great. You got what you need. I'm trying to decide between these two." she said.

They looked exactly the same to me, except one of them was taller. "Well, the taller ones will make you less short." I teased her.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "No. I mean it. Which ones?" she asked.

"They look the same to me." I said.

"They're not. These ones are more gold and are metallic. These ones are more glittery." she said.

"I can't tell." I replied. She gave me a look. "Fine. One or two?" I asked.

"What?"

"Just choose." I said.

"Um. One." she said.

"Those ones." I said, pointing to the taller, apparently more metallic ones.

"Really Jase? You just-you know what? You're a lost cause." she said.

I grinned. "I helped you choose didn't I?" I asked.

"Yeah. Randomly." she said.

"But I still did it." I pointed out.

She groaned. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. I'll get these ones." she said.

"Love you too." I said cheekily. She gave me a look and went to pay.

She walked back and we exited the store. "So. You have to show me what you got when we get home." she said.

"Suits are so uncomfortable." I said.

"Dresses are worse." she argued.

"No way. You have free movement in dresses."

"Would you care to bet on that?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Imagine a literally skin tight outfit that allows free movement at the legs just so you can walk. And then there's heels, which add an extra obstacle when it comes to walking."

"You don't have to wear a skin tight dress. Suits are all heavy and uncomfortable." I pointed out.

"You know what? I should make you wear a dress. Then we'll see which is more uncomfortable." She said.

"Um no. I would break one of your dresses." I said.

"Mmhmm. Well, that just makes it more amusing, doesn't it?" She asked.

"You're not serious are you?" I asked.

She smirked at me and I groaned. "No way. I am not doing that."

"Yes. You are."

"No I'm not. And you can't make me."

"Yes I can."

"It's not happening."

"Either that or you accept defeat and admit that you were wrong and that dresses are way more uncomfortable." She said stubbornly.

"Fine. I accept defeat." I said.

"And . . ." she said, gesturing for me to continue.

I rolled my eyes. "I admit that I was wrong." She raised her eyebrows at me. "And dresses are way more uncomfortable." I muttered.

"See? That wasn't difficult." She said.

"Not for you."

"You're just stubborn." She told me.

"I'm the stubborn one?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows.

"Yes." she replied.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You're crazy." I muttered.  
She smirked. "No I'm not. I just like bothering you."

"Wow. Thanks." I said dryly.

"You're welcome." She replied, ignoring my sarcasm.

We walked inside and Ria and Marlin gave us a look.

"So when were you guys planning on mentioning that you're going to a fancy dinner under cover?" Marlin asked, holding up two tickets.

"Right now actually. But since you clearly know everything already, saves us the time." Red said, taking the tickets from him and walking past them.

"Hey guys." I said, walking past them too.

"It's three o clock. I'm going to shower." she said.

"Okay." I said, and she went into the bathroom.

I picked up my phone and suddenly to heard Red's phone go off next to me. I glanced over at it and my eyes widened.

It was another text. It said that a Hydra associate was going to pick up a briefcase containing a highly dangerous weapon in exchange for diamonds at9:00 on the west balcony. I groaned.

Red poked her head out of the bathroom and looked at me. "What happened now?" she asked.

"Well, apparently Hydra is buying a weapon and paying in diamonds." I said. She grimaced and went back into the bathroom, only to come out a minute later only wearing a towel. She grabbed the hair dryer and started to blow dry her hair.

"Um. Aren't you forgetting something?" I asked.

She glanced back at me. "No. I have to dry my hair and I don't want the dress to get ruined or wet. Also, I have to put the makeup on my arms, legs, shoulders, and back." she said. "Why? Does this make you uncomfortable?" she was smirking.

I shrugged. "Not really, no. It doesn't make me uncomfortable." I said. "It's really nothing I haven't seen before."

She stuck her tongue out at me in the mirror. "Can you hand me the hairbrush?" she asked. I grabbed it from the dresser and gave it to her.

"Also, how much skin does this dress even show?" I asked.

"Well, it's not really skin. The arms, sides of the legs, shoulders, and back is made out of a sheer thin material."

"Why is that necessary?" I asked.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" she asked in return. I sighed.

"I still can't believe I have to wear a suit." I muttered. "Also, who are we going undercover as?"

"You are Arnold Fendway. I am Ariana Richmond. We are a 22 year old couple who are high up in the workings of Hydra. We're going to give fake diamonds instead of real ones and receive the weapon." she said, still drying her hair.

"Arnold? I hate the name Arnold." I muttered. "Whatever. I'm going to shower also." I said.

"And the name Ariana makes me want to puke. But I'm putting all this effort into my appearance so I'm not going to ruin it." she said. I laughed and went in.

(LATER)

"Hey Jase? Can you help me with something?" she asked me.

"Yeah sure."

"I need to get this makeup on my back too." she said. "It's spray on so that's all you have to do."

"Okay." I did it, even though it was awkward because she had to take off the towel.

She put on the dress and I put on the suit. I looked at her and I'm pretty sure I'm staring but whatever. It was a mint green dress that faded into white at the bottom and had long slits going up both sides up to just below her hips with some kind of lace in between them until the knees that was gold. The shoulders, arms, and back were covered in a sheer mint green color. The neckline was rimmed with gold embroidery.

She smirked. "How does it look?" she asked.

"You look great. It's just a little weird… I haven't seen you in a dress in ages. And….."

"The scars? I know. It's weird not seeing them." she said.

"Yeah. Also, you don't look tiny anymore." I teased her.

"Oh shut up. I'm not that short." she said, sticking her tongue out me. "Also, you don't look half bad." she said.

"I can't believe I have to be an Arnold." I said.

"I have to be an Ariana. Also, her makeup is tacky and nasty. It looks terrifying." she said, turning on her nanomask. I'm sure this Ariana person would be really pretty if she didn't put on twenty bazillion pounds of makeup. But that's just my opinion.

I turned on mine. "Go look in a mirror." she said. I did and realized that I clearly got the better end of the deal. I now looked like I had black hair and blue eyes.

"This is weird." I muttered.

"I know right." she said. She looked kind of preoccupied.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Well, no. So basically, Ariana is cheating on Arnold with the guy who I have to pick the weapon up from. He's apparently very high up and stuff and his name is Aaron Rumlow. So you know. If he references something or does something, I might have to go along with it." she said hesitantly.

At first, I was angered by this. Not angry at her. Like- jealous maybe? Pssssh. No. But then I steeled my nerves and told myself that it was 100% necessary and that I trust her to take care of herself. Although the problem really isn't about that, is it?

"Okay." I said.

She looked at me. "Don't worry. If he so much as touches me I'll break his fingers off." she said.

I smirked. "I know you will."

"Also. We have to take care of the real Arnold and Ariana." she pointed out.

"Right. Are they part of Hydra or just messengers?" I asked.

"Both." she muttered, turning off the nanomask.

I did the same to mine. "Well this is fun. We'll just communicate mentally I guess. Neither of us will be able to talk at all." I said.

"Yeah. God. I don't want to do this." she said.

"I know. It sucks." I said. "At least once this is over, we can actually relax."

"Yeah. As if." she muttered. "You of all people know how much of a lie that is." she said.

I sighed. "I know. I can hope though." I said.

"Don't." She muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't hope. It's useless. You're going to build up hope and then it's all going to get ripped out from under you." she said bitterly, and the way she said the word hope sent chills up my spine.

"Red . . ."

"No. I'm right about this one. Trust me. It hurts so much more to hope for something and not get that something than to just not hope at all." she said coldly.

"Red." I said more insistently.

"No Jase! You don't- I can't- I just- when I was there- I couldn't-" she was struggling to form sentences. I put my arms around her. She took a deep breath. "When I was there, every time he- the one that looked like you- walked in, I would hope, just for a second, that it was actually you. Every single time. And then he would smile that sadistic grin that looks so wrong on your face and I wanted to punch it right off of him but I couldn't." she said, her voice quivering in frustration and anger.

"Red, calm down. Look at me." I said. She did. "Do you think, when you finally managed to escape, that you would've believed it was me when I found you in that shack if you didn't still have the smallest bit of hope? Think logically." I said, looking her in the eyes.

"You're right. You're right. But I still _despise_ hope. It has this illusion of being great and sunshine and rainbows but it's not." she said quietly.

"I know. I know Red." I replied, holding her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm good. Let's just get this over with." she said, pulling away.

We walked downstairs and got into the fancy car, leaving. When we got there, it was giant and fancy and all that. They asked for ID.

"Hello Damon. You can let us in." she said, applying more lipstick.

"Ms. Richmond, I'm very sorry, but we can't-"

"I'm telling you, you can and will let us in." she interrupted, snapping the lipstick lid shut, a hard look in her eyes.

"Okay." he said hastily, letting us pass. She just took over that guy's brain temporarily.

"What did you just do?"

"I don't want to be here any longer than necessary and I don't want to raise any suspicions. That was the most logical solution. I don't like it, but it had to be done. And besides, it was only for one second." She said. I grit my teeth.

"Fine. Just don't do it again. Please." I said.

She looked at me. "I won't." We got out of the car and walked in. Red looked at me, although she looked totally different. "I'll be right back."

"Okay." I replied, giving her a look. She understood and nodded.

"Ah Arnold, so glad you could make it." Someone came up and said to us.

 _That's Aaron._ Red told me in my head. I faked a smile.

"Of course." I said. "I wouldn't miss it." Red walked up next to me.

"Hello Ariana, looking stunning as always." He said, smiling.

"Aaron." She said, faking a smile.

"Come on. Take a drink." he said, gesturing towards them. We each grabbed one, although neither of us drank any. Technically were too young for that, but the real reason is that champagne tastes terrible.

He had disappeared and I turned to Red. "I dont like him." I muttered. She smirked.

"Don't worry so much. I can easily take him down if he tries anything."

"I know. I still don't like him." I said.

"Arnold! Ariana! You made it!" A woman said from behind us. We turned around and smiled.

 _Not Hydra. Civilian._ Red told me.

"Of course we did. We wouldn't miss it for the world." She replied, smiling.

We just walked around and acted fancy for a while before it was 8:55 and she had to leave.

 _Just spy on us from the side. You're supposed to come get the briefcase from me and take it out to the car at exactly 9:10._ She said telepathically.

She walked into the hallway and I walked after her, keeping a good distance behind.

Aaron walked on the balcony from a different entrance. "Do you have the briefcase?" she asked him.

"Cutting straight to the chase I see." he said, smirking.

"Well?"

"Yes, it's here. You're on edge. Why?" he asked, taking her hand. She pulled it away quickly.

"Arnold will be coming here any minute." she said.

He laughed. "You have nothing to worry about. I told him 9:10. He won't be here for another few minutes." he said, then kissed her.

I grit my teeth. She pulled away instantly, holding his fingers in a death grip, about to snap them.

"I said, _not now._ " she hissed. He pulled away his hand.

"You're not Ariana." he decided.

"That's ridiculous. I just don't want anything to jeopardize this mission. You know what will happen if this exchange doesn't succeed."

He took out the gun and aimed it at her. She quickly disarmed him, put him in a headlock with the gun pressed against the side of his head. "It's me. Stop being stupid. I don't want to die after this, and I will not hesitate to throw you under the bus. Give me the briefcase and we can forget this ever happened and go back to normal." She said.

"Fine. Stop strangling me." He said. She released him and kept the gun.

"Can I have my gun back?"

"Not until you give me the weapon. You could still shoot me. I know you Aaron." She said. "It's 7:09:38. He'll be here very soon."

"God woman. You're crazy." He said, but he handed over the briefcase.

"No I'm not. I have a sense of self-preservation." She replied curtly, handing him the gun. She opened the briefcase and her eyes widened. "Where is it?"

"It was there."

"Crap." she muttered. I walked in the room.

I looked at the briefcase. "Where is the weapon?" I asked.

"They're going to kill you guys." Aaron said.

"It's your fault."

"Not as far as they know." He said, smirking. I flipped him over and placed a knee at his neck, almost but not quite cutting off his airways.

"You're not going anywhere." I said.

"Jeez Arnie. When did you get good at fighting?" He asked, smirking.

Red turned off her nanomask and smirked. "He's always been good at it actually. Now tell us everything you know about the weapon." She walked over and turned off mine, seeing as I was kind of occupied.

"Jason Smith and Jade Rogers. Hm. You know Hydra would love to get its hands on you two." He mused.

"Yeah. We noticed. What do you know about the weapon?" I asked.

"She can just read my mind, can't she?" He asked.

"Stop stalling." I said.

"You know she kissed me?" He lied. I rolled my eyes.

"Pssh. As if I would do that. He was watching, number one. Number two, you kissed me. I didn't kiss back. Don't try to lie your way out of this. It won't work." She said.

"I'm not trying to lie my way out of this. I'm trying to get him riled up. It's working." He said, smirking.

I grit my teeth. I want to punch him. "That's not a good thing for you." I said.

Suddenly Red shot him. It was an icer bullet. I got up and looked at her.

She shrugged. "It had to be done. He was blocking his thoughts from me. This is much easier. Also, we can take him in now."

I nodded. Something's off about her. She's acting distant and cold. Not normal. She's losing regard for everything.

"We have to find the weapon." I said. She nodded.

"All he knows is that it was there earlier. It's an asgardian weapon. We don't know the exact details of what it does because he doesn't know." she said.

"Okay. We have to find it and get it back. Who knows. This could all be some twisted plan by Hydra." I muttered.

"I'm going to punch something if it is." she said.

"Jade?" came a voice from outside. Crap. We turned on our nanomask a quickly while Red levitated the body and the briefcase up into the ceiling. Two people walked in, a man and a woman.

"I'm sorry. Jade isn't here." I said, looking at them.

"Jase, it's fine." Red said. "Artemis, Apollo. It's actually us."

We all took down our nanomasks. They looked at us. "What are you guys doing here?" They asked.

"We got a text from somebody, Thomas Ward, telling us where to come and when." I said.

"But we did too. We got the weapon though." Artemis said.

Red and I both breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god." I muttered. Red dropped the body unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Who's that?" Apollo asked.

"Aaron Rumlow. Son of my dad's enemy. He's a-" I stopped myself.

"A conceited jerk." Red said, glaring at his limp body.

"Sure. That's the nicer version of what I was going to say." I muttered.

"Hmmm. What did he do?" Artemis asked, smirking.

"He tried to kiss me." Red answered. Artemis laughed.

"Oh god. Did you break any bones? Please tell me you did."

"I wanted to. But we were undercover." she answered.

"Right. So what are you doing in England anyway?" Apollo asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we're kind of lying low for a while. So we rented out a giant apartment in London." I said.

"Oh. You should have visited." Artemis said.

"I'm hiding. From my parents and SHIELD. So no." Red said.

"Why?"

"We can't talk here. Let's leave. I can transport his body above the building." she said.

"Okay. Turn on your nanomasks." I said. We all did and then we walked out.

"I'm so sorry. We have to leave. It's a family emergency." Red lied easily to the host.

"Oh honey it's fine. Go go. Don't waste time." she replied, ushering us out the door.

We discreetly put the body in the car and then got in, driving away.

We took them back to the apartment and Ria and Marlin looked at us from the couch.

"Oh hey guys." Ria said.

"Hi." I said.

"Where did you find those two?" Marlin asked.

"We were searching for the same thing apparently." Artemis answered.

"Oh. Well, are you staying here? There's an extra bedroom. You two are going to have to share." Marlin said.

"Yeah. We kind of have to. Our mom isn't currently home and doesn't know we're gone and this idiot locked us out of the house." Apollo said, gesturing at his twin.

"Hey! You're the one that shut the door!"

"You forgot the key."

"Maybe they shouldn't share a room." I muttered.

"No. They're going to get over it. They're like Naomi and Tanner, remember? They love each other." Red said, smirking.

"Ugh. Gross. I call bathroom first!" Artemis said, running to the extra room.

Apollo rolled his eyes and sat on the couch, pulling out the briefcase and putting it on the coffee table.

"Do with that what you will. I'm going to sleep." He said, leaving.

"I'm going to sleep too." I said.

"Same." Red agreed.

"I am as well." Ria said.

"I'm staying up." Marlin said. We all stared at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just hide that when you go to sleep." I said. He nodded.

"Night guys." He said.

"Night." We all chorused.

We walked into our shared room and Red went in the bathroom first. I took off the suit entirely, happy to finally get out of that death trap.

I heard the shower turn on in the bathroom and I flopped back on the bed. I'm exhausted. I looked at the ceiling and began to think.

Red is acting weird. Very weird. She's usually not this closed off. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to go to sleep.

(JADE POV)

I walked out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel, and saw Jase asleep on the bed, his hair messed up completely, only wearing a pair of pants. I smiled slightly and dropped my towel, about to change.

"Red?" I heard him say tiredly.

"Do not open your eyes." I told him.

"What?" He asked, and of course he opened his eyes. At that point I had on shorts, but I usually don't sleep in a bra, which means I was completely topless. I pulled on my shirt quickly and sat next to him, leaning back against the headboard, my face red.

"Why weren't you wearing a shirt?" He asked, half awake.

"I was changing."

"Why is your face red? Are you embarrassed?" He asked, smirking.

"No. Go to sleep. You're talking nonsense." I said.

"Yes you are. It's not a big deal. Again, I've seen it all before." He said, closing his eyes again. I ran my hand through his hair.

"You're so annoying." I muttered.

He hummed in agreement. "Yes I am. I do it on purpose you know." He said.

"Why do I put up with you? I do this to myself." I said affectionately, still running my hand through his hair.

"Red." he said, his eyes still shut.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"Nothing. I just like saying your name. Or you know, my name for you." He murmured, smiling.

I laughed. "Doofus." I said.

"All yours." He replied quietly, falling back asleep. I laid down next to him, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. I snuggled closer to him, closing my eyes.


	20. Revelations

**Hi guys! Here's a new chapter! Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

"Jase, wake up." I said, trying to wake him up frantically. He's been having a nightmare for the past half an hour, probably longer, but he won't wake up.

I went into his thoughts and forced him to wake up. As bad as I feel about that, it's better for him if I do that.

He opened his eyes and looked around. "Jase. Look at me." I said. He did and then he started crying. I wrapped my arms around him.

"It's fine. You're okay now. You're not there anymore." I said. I saw his nightmares and they're terrible. I want him to get better.

He took a deep breath and pulled himself together. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I'm sure. It's just- it feels so real." he whispered.

"I know. But you're never going back there, okay? I promise."

"I know. Did I wake you up?" he asked.

"No. I woke up a while ago." I said. I had fallen asleep but woke up and I didn't fall back asleep.

"Oh." he said quietly. I kissed him lightly.

"Cmon. Let's go back to sleep." I said. He nodded and we went back to sleep.

(LATER)

I woke up before Jase again, just like I normally do. The cramps are killing today, and it feels like my insides are being thrown in a blender. I glanced outside and it was light, so it's not that early, but I don't want to move.

I feel like this a lot, like I just don't want to move out of his embrace. It makes me feel safe, as cheesy as it sounds. Being away from him for too long gives me anxiety, and I hate that. I hate being so needy.

But more than that, I worry about him. The last time he left, I thought he had died, and we all know how terribly _that_ went. I always worry about something happening to him. Then I thought about something.

Aria. I haven't thought about her in a while. I don't understand her. I like to think I'm pretty good at reading people, you know, considering I can literally read them, but with her it's all so confusing. She herself doesn't even know herself. She doesn't know why she makes these terrible decisions out of impulse.

I want to forgive her and give her a chance, because honestly, I've always wanted an older sister, but I can't. I don't know why, I just don't have it in me to do that. Everytime I see her I feel the urge to punch her. She left us. Not a goodbye, nothing. She finally shows up, 18 years late, and then she leaves after a few days with a _note._ And on top of that, she lied.

I can't stand that fact. Was I just not good enough for her? Was she just jealous? What goes through her head? I can't figure her out and it makes me so frustrated.

Jase woke up just then and looked at me. "Do you ever sleep?" he asked.

"Yes, I do." I said amused. "I just wake up earlier than you."

"Well I don't know, because before this you weren't sleeping at all."

"You want to talk about this now?" I asked, grimacing.

"When else are we supposed to? Red, you have to accept it. You know that."

"I did accept it. I accept that it happened. I just don't accept the fact that it has to stay with me for the rest of my life." I muttered.

He sighed frustratedly and apparently decided it wasn't worth it to argue with me. "Look, if you want to be stubborn, I can't change your mind. But you can't just not get any sleep. You'll die." he said.

"Jase-"

"Whatever Red. I care about you. I just don't know when you're going to start caring about yourself." he said, staring at the ceiling. I can tell he's annoyed with me. I stayed silent. I don't know what to say.

"How long?" he asked me.

"Just a month. And even then, some nights I would sleep. It's not like a purposefully tried to stay awake. It's just that most nights it was easier to stay awake." I said.

He looked at me. "I know that. Don't you think both of our lives would be so much easier if we never had nightmares? If none of that stuff ever happened? But we do have nightmares and all of that did happen and we can't turn back time so really there is no other way except to deal with it and move on." he said.

I don't know what to say yet again. I'm in pain, I'm tired, and I'm not in the mood to have this conversation. So I stayed silent, sitting up and pulling my knees up to my chest. He kept staring at the ceiling, his expression almost unreadable. His dark eyes were brooding and thoughtful. I sighed.

I got up to use the bathroom and take a shower when I realized something.

I took my shower, got out and went straight up to him. I lifted up my shirt a little and showed him my stomach.

"What's missing?" I asked him, though I already know the answer. Maybe I'm afraid of hallucinating again. That was the worst time of my life. I kept seeing him in front of me and when I would try and reach out he would disappear like he was never there at all. His response snapped me back to reality.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Look closely. Something's missing." He did.

"Your gunshot wound. The recent one. It's gone." he said, looking at me.

"Exactly. What happened? Are the other recent ones still there?" I asked, turning around.

"No. They're all gone." he replied.

"What the- this is so weird." I muttered. "Why aren't they scarring?" I wondered.

I decided I needed to call somebody. "Hey dad?"

"Hello Jade." he said. "What's up?"

"Well, I kind of have to ask you a question. Is Dianna there too?" I asked.

"Yeah, she is. I'm putting you on speaker phone." he said.

"Okay. So basically, all of my recent injuries aren't scarring." I said.

"Jade, your dad doesn't scar ever. We assumed that you did because I don't have the serum and that it was part of that." my mom pitched in.

"The serum is made up of codominant traits. Your dad has it and your mom does not which means that the traits will be only partially expressed. " Dianna said.

"English please." Jason said from next to me.

"That means that if one parent doesn't have it, the serum will be less potent in your bloodstream. That's why you weren't as strong as Capsicle until your serum was enhanced." Uncle Tony said.

"The enhanced super soldier serum that made you stronger than Steve only enhanced certain aspects of your serum, like your strength, speed, sight, and hearing. Your healing time remained the same." Aunt Jemma pitched in.

"So that means that there must have been-" Naomi started.

"-A new component was injected into you." Robert continued.

"One that enhanced your healing capabilities." Tanner added.

"So basically Jade won't scar anymore because more stuff was injected into her at an unknown time." Elliot summarized.

"Elliot, you just described a detailed process in a single sentence." Dianna said, dumbfounded.

"Yup. Somethings are better short and sweet. Kinda like you." he said, whispering the last part so that nobody except for me, Jase, and probably my dad could hear.

"Awwwww Elliot. You're so cheesy." I teased him.

"Oh hush. I think he's sweet." Dianna said.

"But definitely not short." Jase said from next to me, cracking up. I laughed as well.

"What's going on? I want to laugh at people." Naomi said.

"Elliot said-" I started.

"Oh no need for that. Stupid serum." he interjected.

"I think you guys are so cute." Sarah said.

"Um eww." Alana muttered, disgusted.

"They're adorable. Don't deny it. Elliot's just a cheesy sap." Tanner said. I can almost hear Alana pretending to gag in the background.

"What? You don't think my relationship with your best friend is adorable? I'm offended." Elliot teased her, emphasizing the _best friend_.

"Of course not. I never approved this to begin with. She just went and did it." Alana replied.

"Damn Lana. We took things a little slower than that." Elliot said, and I can imagine him smirking.

"Oh god. That's _not_ what I meant Ellie." she said.

"I didn't need to know that." Uncle Leo muttered.

"Okay. We have to go eat breakfast and stuff before everyone else assumes we've died." Jason said.

"I wonder why they would assume that." Johnny said dryly.

"I have no idea." I replied.

Jack and Juliana scoffed.

"Bye guys! Come home soon and let us meet your new friends." Alana said.

"Okay. Bye." We said, then hung up.

"Well that was fun." I muttered. "I miss them."

"I do too." he replied, putting a hand on my arm.

"Why am I so stupid?" I asked, annoyed with myself.

"You're not stupid." he said, looking at me.

"Okay. Not stupid. I'm just severely lacking common sense and rationality." I said.

"Why are you so annoyed with yourself?" he asked me quietly.

"Because. I keep making dumb decisions and saying dumb things and acting self centered and my problems aren't the only ones in the world yet somehow without even meaning too I make it seem that way, and I separated myself from all my friends and my family and now Juliana is having anxiety attacks and I'm not even there for her and I can't go back right now because I'm a selfish coward who can't even face my own parents because I feel guilty." I said, glaring at my reflection in the mirror. He looked slightly shocked by that long admission. "I feel guilty, because even after they've all shown me that they care about me and that they want me to get better, I push them away and I act harsh and mean and honestly I don't even think I'm mentally stable anymore. I don't even know why they stick around. For the past four years I've been a terrible friend. I pushed my own _parents_ and _sister_ away. How could I do that? Juliana needs me now. I'm not there. I _should_ be there. But I can't accept and deal with the fact that I've wronged everyone there so I run away from my problems like a coward. And then on top of that I drag you with me. You deserve a better life than this. You deserve better than me. I don't deserve you, or those two out there, or anyone at home. I don't deserve any of it." I said, my voice cracking slightly, having risen by the end.

"Jade?" I heard my dad ask over the phone.

"Dad- you heard that?" I whispered. "I hung up." I said.

"No you didn't. I went to go charge my phone and then I heard your rant starting."

"You weren't supposed to hear that." I muttered, annoyed with myself even more now.

"Jade, nobody here cares about any of that. We don't want you to get hurt. Just come home." he said.

"I- I have to go dad." I said, hanging up for good this time.

I started pacing around the room furiously. He'll probably tell my mom, and then what? Would he tell anybody else? No he wouldn't. Would he? He told me to come home. Can I do that? Can I tough it out and go home and not break down in front of them again? Can I break down my barriers in front of them again? I don't think I can. What if I can't? What if I never go home again? Or what if I do and I end up hurting somebody else again because of it? Or what if I put their lives in danger?

Jase grabbed my hand. "Red, calm down." He said.

I pushed away all the thoughts and what ifs swirling around my head. "He heard that. He wasn't meant to hear that. It took me a long time just to tell you that, and I tell you _everything_." I said.

"Maybe it's better that he heard it. Better now then never. Think about it this way. For years they've been wondering why you run away from them. And now he finally understands, well, he'll probably tell your mom, but other than that, nobody will know. And even then, you know they're scared, but they're scared for you, not of you. There's a difference. And what you were saying earlier, that I deserve better than you? There is no one better. Okay? Not for me." he told me.

I looked at him and was doing everything in my power not to cry. He saw this and pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I was basically sitting on top of him but I really don't care at this point.

"I love you." I told him quietly.

"I love you too." He replied, and I kissed him passionately. He kissed back, his hands resting on my waist.

Then someone started banging on the door. "Lovebirds! Hurry up! We're all waiting for you." Marlin yelled.

"We're coming! Jeez." Jase muttered. We got up.

"Well I'm ready. You should put on a shirt. Or maybe put on something besides your sweats." I said.

He shrugged. "Why?"

"Because it's not very nice looking." I said matter of factly. "You can't just walk out without a shirt on."

"Says who?"

"Me. Put on some clothes."

"Okay okay fine." he said, laughing. He put on some actual clothes and we walked out.

"What were you two doing in there?" Artemis asked us, exasperated. They were all wide awake.

I smirked. "Nothing."

"Do I even want to know?" Apollo asked.

"No you don't." I replied. Jase gave me a weird look.

 _I just like messing with them._ I told him telepathically. He smirked.

We grabbed our food and sat down, looking at them. "So? You said you waiting for us?" Jase asked.

"Yeah. We're going to figure out what this stupid thing does." Ria said.

"We also have a Hydra agent in the kitchen closet. He's probably awake right now." I said. I could hear Jase's thoughts, and they're not pleasant. It involves beating the crap out of the guy on the closet. I personally would not be opposed to that at all.

"Right. The guy that tried to kiss you." Marlin said, stifling a laugh.

"I feel sorry for him. Poor guy didn't know that you weren't Ariana." Ria said, smiling.

"Yeah, but that poor guy thought he was kissing a married woman." I said, also trying not to laugh.

"I would personally beat him up if he tried to kiss my girlfriend." Apollo said, shrugging.

"You have a girlfriend? And you didn't tell me? Do I know her? I better know her." Artemis asked.

"It's hypothetical." he replied.

"Who's the hypothetical girlfriend?" I asked.

"He has a massive crush on a certain blond genius girl who moved to America but is currently visiting!" Artemis shouted.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Apollo argued.

"Apollo and Rosa, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." she sang.

Apollo buried his face in his hands. "I hate you." he said.

"Apollo has a crush on Rosa?" Jase asked, smirking.

"I ship it." I said, smiling.

"Me too." Jase agreed.

"Shut up." Apollo said, groaning.

Artemis pretended to wipe tears. "Mom would be so proud." she said. "Apollo having a sensible crush. Dad would be happy too. He _loves_ rosa."

Apollo laughed. We all looked at the twins confused. "Inside joke." he said. We nodded.

"Okay, seriously though. What does everybody know about the weapon?" Marlin asked.

"It's asgardian, dangerous, and Hydra wants it." Jase said.

"It erases memories." Apollo said.

"Doesn't Hydra have a serum that does that?" I asked.

"Yes, but they can't target specific memories. That's why they want it." Artemis clarified.

"Okay. So now we know what it does, what do we do with it?" Ria asked.

"Hand it over to SHIELD." I muttered.

"I thought-"

"You're right, but we have to. That's why I'm going to do it." I said.

"That doesn't make sense." Jase said, looking at me.

"Yes it does. They trust me, well, to a certain extent. On top of that, I can handle this guy over here by just making him fall asleep. It's easy. I've done it to you before." I said, addressing Jase. He gave me an interested look.

"When was this?" he asked.

"You couldn't sleep. So I helped you a little bit. It was when I came out of a coma." I said, wincing a little.

He gave me a look that said that we'll talk about it later.

(LATER)

"Is anyone in there?" I asked him, shutting the door to our room. He stood in front of me.

"I don't know. You tell me." he said, his voice sounding cold. Or maybe that was just my imagination, but I tensed up anyway.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing." He said, not looking at me.

"You can't say something like that and then tell me it's nothing." I said, crossing my arms and leaning back against the door, trying to pretend I don't care. That every muscle in my body isn't coiled up like a spring.

"Yes I can." he replied.

"It's an expression."

"I know."

"Well? Are you going to tell me or not?" I asked. He looked at me conflicted.

"I don't know. You can just read my mind, can't you?" he asked, giving me a look.

"You're upset that I'm using my telepathy?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"No. I'm frustrated because you aren't getting it. Yesterday you controlled somebody else's mind. Do you have any idea-" He cut himself off, glaring at the floor.

"I know. I know I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry. I'm not going to give you some lame excuse because it was my fault. I was being an insensitive jerk." I said, looking at him, even if he was refusing to look back. "Jase-"

"Red, what was even going through your mind at that point?" he asked me, still not looking at me.

"I had messed up. I had my whole plan worked out but I forgot that we would need to have the password and that we would have to come with the Hydra party, which wouldn't have worked anyway and it was the quickest solution I could think of. It wasn't a good one, but my plans are never good." I said. I hate messing up. I always have to get my plans right, they have to hurt nobody but me, and preferably not hurt me either. But this is why i always have a plan, regardless of whether or not anyone else knows it. Nobody else can get hurt because of me.

And now just that has happened. Jase got hurt because of me. It's my fault. And I know it's my fault. And I'm not guilty for that, I'm angry at myself for failing. Because I can't fail. I can't be the one to mess up. In the life I live, there's no room for error.

"Just promise me you'll never ever do that again." he said, looking at me.

"I promise you." I said, looking him in the eyes. He sighed.

"I love you, you know." he said.

"I love you too." I replied, smiling slightly. He stepped forward and kissed me. I kissed back, my back pressing into the door. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him closer, and he placed one arm above my head against the door and one hand on my waist.

It was a long passionate kiss, but then we heard a knock behind my head. I rolled my eyes and we separated. "What do you want?" I asked.

"We have to leave soon, to go home." It was Artemis. "You guys should visit." she said.

"Yeah, okay. One second." Jase said. I looked at him and sighed frustratedly.

"You know, we got more alone time in the tower with like twenty other people there than we do here with four others." I pointed out.

He smirked, his face still inches away from mine. "That's because they knew better to interrupt us." he said.

I laughed and rested my head on his chest. "Do we have to go out there now?" I asked.

"Yes we do. We have to leave soon." he said regretfully.

"Ugh. Fine." I said, pulling away. He laughed and we walked out of the room.

"What were you guys doing?" Apollo asked. "You guys just disappear."

We glanced at each other, but Ria responded for us. "They were making out. What else would they be doing?" she asked, smirking at us. We didn't respond but I'm guessing the redness of our cheeks gave it away.

"You two are strange. How many times do you make out a day?" Artemis asked.

"Um, you don't want to know." I said.

"Wow. Okay then. We're going home now. We literally live like 20 minutes from here. We'll walk." Apollo said.

"We have to head to New York. Do you want us drive you there?" I asked.

"Nah. It's not that far." Artemis said, while Apollo said something else.

"Yes please." He said. We laughed.

"So which one?" Jase asked.

"I want to walk." Artemis said to her brother, staring at him.

"I want to drive." Apollo argued.

"You need the exercise." Artemis told him.

"Rude. Are you calling me fat?"

"No. I'm calling you lazy."

"I'm older, we're taking the car." Apollo said.

"You're older by five minutes." Artemis said, "And besides, they were expecting me. You were a mistake."

"Yeah, but I'm still older."

"I don't care. We're walking."

"Walk by yourself."

"Apollo!" Artemis objected, then she smirked. "Oh. I know why you want to drive." she said.

"Of course, it's faster." he replied.

"Yeah, but you want to get there faster to see Rosa." she teased.

"Oh my god! Shut up." Apollo said, frustrated.

"If you want me to shut up then we'll walk." Artemis said.

"You're trying to blackmail me? That's illegal."

"I'm your sister. And what are going to do, go to the police and say: 'my twin sister says she's going to keep making fun of me about my obsessive crush unless I walk back to our house with her'?" she asked.

"No. I'll go to mom."

"Then she'll know who you like."

"She already knows who I like."

"Guys! Seriously? I'll walk with Artemis, Jase can drive with Apollo." I said, frustrated.

"Why am I driving?" Jase asked me, raising his eyebrows.

"You're a better driver than me." I said.

"Good point. You're kind of reckless." he teased me.

I poked him in the side. "Don't push it." I said.

He laughed. "You know I'm right." he said.

"Okay okay sure." I muttered. He laughed again, kissing my cheek.

"I'm going to puke because of your cuteness." Apollo said, giving us a disgusted look.

We laughed. "Just wait until you get with Rosa. You'll be acting all cute too." I told him.

"Oh god. Don't say anything to her, okay? Please." he said.

"We wouldn't. Well, Red and I won't. I don't know about your sister." Jase said.

"Yeah, she will definitely say something." he said.

"Who me? I would never." she said, pretending to be offended.

"Yeah right." Apollo responded.

"I love you guys. You're so much more entertaining than those two." Ria said to the twins.

"Hey!" Jase and I said.

"That's a good thing. Trust me." Marlin said, smirking.

"I hope so, for your sake." I said, glaring lightheartedly. "Anyway, we should get going now." I said.

I got up and walked into the kitchen when I felt a gun pressed into the back of my skull. He pressed his hand over my mouth. "Move and I shoot." he said harshly. "Hands behind your back."

If I could speak I would mention that his statements contradict each other. It's a problem a lot of Hydra agents seem to have. I'm pretty stuck. If I move he will shoot. I can't afford that. I can think of one solution but I promised Jase I wouldn't.

I can cause him mental pain, but then he might get shocked and pull the trigger. I can try and fight but if I'm not fast enough he could seriously disable me. I ran through options in my head. Sidenote: his hand smells disgusting.

Duh. I can contact Jase. Of course. _Aaron broke free. In the kitchen, gun pointed at my skull. Your 4:00 when you enter through the door._ I thought to him.

I knew he was about to enter through the door and I need to distract Aaron so he doesn't shoot. I kicked my leg back into his crotch area. It's a classic and it always works. Always. He yelped and was clearly distracted, but then Jase walked in the door and shot him, the bullet narrowly missing my arm and hitting the Hydra agent in his arm, the best shot he could get from that angle without grazing my head. I wasn't worried though, Jase has perfect aim.

I glared down at him, watching him try to get up. I wanted to kick him. Is that bad? He's already down, so it's probably not nice, but he aimed a gun at my skull. I kicked him in the ribs, hard.

Then Jase glared at him, and suddenly he was crippling. I don't know what Jase was doing, but it's a little terrifying.


	21. Infiltration

**Hey guys! I'm so excited for this chapter! It's very long and VERY important. It's one of my favorite chapters so far and its a major turning point. So without further ado, enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

It was terrifying me. His eyes were burning with rage. All his rage at Hydra, at everything was literally being thrown at this guy. I don't know how he's doing it, but this is beyond mental pain. This is physical.

Aaron will die if he keeps this up. I tried to talk but my voice is dry and quiet and small sounding. It's like even though there are no sounds besides the Hydra scum's protests, the room is filled with many different noises. Or maybe that's just the pounding inside my skull.

"Jase. Stop." I said, grabbing his hand. He looked at me, and for a scary moment his eyes were dark and cold, anger being displayed through them. But even further than that, it's scary that he can do this. And that he is doing it.

But his eyes went back to normal after a second and he was shaking, I was shaking, and Aaron was unconscious on the ground.

His eyes searched mine for a minute. "Jase, don't- don't ever do that again." I said.

"I'm sorry. I don't- I don't know what happened." he said.

"It's okay, just promise me you'll never do that again."

"I won't." he said quietly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he wrapped his around my shoulders. I rested my head on his chest. I was actually terrified, and not much can scare me.

Just watching him do that, that was too much. His eyes were cold and emotionless. He's always nice to everyone, _everyone._ But this was different. His thoughts weren't coherent, and were all focused on every bad thing that's ever happened to him. I shuddered a little and he held on to me tighter, kissing the top of my head. I shut my eyes.

"I love you." he murmured, his words muffled by my hair.

"I love you too." I replied quietly.

(LATER - JASON POV)

We decided that Apollo and Artemis were going to come with us to SHIELD and then started heading out to New York. I could feel Red buzzing with nervousness. I sighed. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her. She nodded.

"No other option." she muttered. I could see her wheels turning, trying to find a solutions. That's just how her brain works. If she doesn't have an answer, she tries to find one. She decided to pilot the plane, and she was staring intently in front of her.

"Jase, what does SHIELD do with the asgardian weapons they recover?" she asked.

"It depends. The dangerous ones get sent to Asgard. The mild ones are experimented on to get a better understanding of Asgardian technologies." I said. "But you knew that already." I pointed out.

"Yeah I did. But I didn't realize this until just now. SHIELD has a storage facility with a lot of alien weapons. Where is it? It's not in the hub." she said.

"Red, where are you going with this?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, I may be wrong, but something is happening here. Ariana and Arnold were going to drop off the weapon in Tampa Bay. That's where the weapons are stored." she said. "I think it's time to interrogate Aaron." she said.

"I want to do it." I said. She looked at me unsurely. "It'll be fine." I promised. She nodded.

"Fine, you can do it. Let's go." she said, putting the plane on autopilot. We went in there, and she stood outside, observing.

I saw the way fear flashed in his eyes and lingered in his gaze, even if he tried to hide it. I winced internally, not because I feel sorry for him, because I don't, but because it reminds me of how Red looked at me afterwards. Terrified.

"We need answers and you're going to give them to us." I said.

"Why would I tell you anything?" he asked. I glared at him.

"Because if you don't, I won't hold back." I said. He swallowed.

"Fair enough. What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Why was the weapon supposed to be dropped off at Tampa Bay?" I asked.

"Oh you would love to know, wouldn't you?" he said, smirking. I held his wrist, ready to snap it.

"Yes, I would, and I sure as hell wouldn't mind snapping your wrist either." I said.

"Go for it." he said, his eyes hard. I did, and the snap was audible. I wanted to flinch away, because I don't enjoy hurting people. But he deserves it. A part of me wants to snap all of his bones, just to hear the satisfying crunch and see the pain on his face. Another part of me wants to shut that malicious side of me down and never let it show again.

"Are you going to tell me now?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Never." he swore.

"You know we killed your former leader?" I asked.

"But- he was burned to death." he said, disbelievingly.

I let a few flames flicker on my finger tips and stared at him. He looked at me skeptically.

"Fine. Hydra has planted itself in SHIELD once again." he said.

"Who is leading you?" I asked.

"My dad."

"Crossbones?" I asked. He nodded.

"Fun." I said, getting up and leaving.

I walked out and into the observation room, where Red was standing with Marlin and Apollo, who had both come in at some point.

"Jason, I never knew you could be that scary." Marlin said, shaking his head.

"Nah. He's not scary. He's just a big softy." Red said, smirking.

Apollo laughed. "Didn't seem like it. Hydra douchebag in there looked like he was going to wet himself." he said.

"I think he did. I don't blame him." Marlin said. "No, but seriously, Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD again? We have to tell the director."

"No, we don't." Red said. We all looked at her.

"What?" Apollo asked.

She didn't respond, walking out, but she was deep in thought. She's forming a plan. We all followed her out and then Ria and Artemis just automatically joined us.

She grabbed a paper and started writing everything we know.

"Look. We know so far that Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD, but we don't know to what extent. This weapon here can target and erase specific memories. SHIELD would probably experiment on it and try and figure out how it works as per protocol. If Hydra is in SHIELD, that means they would also have access to that research. Also, Ariana and Arnold didn't show up to the party, remember? We were supposed to take them out but they never showed up because they knew we were coming. Aaron didn't double check the briefcase because he knew you guys had already taken it. They want SHIELD to have all the weapons so that they can steal the research and the weapons in turn. They have access to all these weapons, including this one, which if they get their hands on, they could turn SHIELD upside down." she said, putting all the pieces together.

"We have to tell Eddie." I said.

"But we have to tell him discreetly. SHIELD has eyes everywhere, which means that Hydra does too." she added.

"Hold up. We're not going home any time soon, are we?" Artemis asked.

"If you really want to, you have to go now. Either you're in or you're not." I said.

"We're in." Apollo said.

"Great. We need all the help we can get." Red told them. "We need a game plan. Firstly, disable any cameras. There are none in here, which is why we're here." she said.

"Let's get to it." Ria said. "Do what you like, electronically disable them, smash it to bits, doesn't matter." she said.

"Marlin, can you tell us where they are and which ones are active?" I asked. He nodded.

"Got it." he said.

"Living room is clear."

"Kitchen is clear."

"Interrogation room is clear."

"Bunks are clear."

"Hallways are clear."

"Cockpit is clear."

"Bathrooms are clear."

"Dining room is clear."

"Steps are clear."

"Training area is clear."

"Ramp is clear."

"We're all good. Everything is disabled." Marlin said. We met back up in the dining room.

"We need to make a plan. We're also going to call in some favors." I said.

Red nodded and pulled up a video connection to her dad. "Hey Dad. We'll explain everything, but we need you to get Eddie back at home and get everyone else there too. Ask Aunt Skye to make sure that this is a secure and that not even SHIELD can access it." I said.

He nodded and a few minutes later, everyone was there. Artemis and Apollo were watching from an angle where they wouldn't be able to see them. They are the heirs to an entire realm, so they have to be careful.

"Explain where you've been. _Now._ " Sarah said, glaring at us. I smiled wryly.

"Well, we've been in London. You knew that." I said.

"Not what I meant." she muttered.

"Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD again." Red told them bluntly.

"Don't you think it would have been better to ease them into it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"They're adults. They should be able to handle this. But then again, they couldn't handle us leaving, and that was a much smaller issue." she said, giving everyone a pointed look.

"We handled it. We could have traced your call and found you in seconds if we wanted to. But we didn't." Alana said. "We could have made you come home."

"You can't make us do anything." Red replied.

"Oh yeah? 8 of us against the two of you? I'm betting we could." Alana said.

"That's a cute theory, but even if you managed to find us without us knowing you were coming, you would never have been able to get us to come home." Red replied. The two of them are both so strong willed and stubborn, and they clash. They're close friends, but their personalities don't mesh well in tense situations.

"We have bigger problems than that." Dianna cut in.

"Yeah, we do. There's a weapon facility in Tampa Bay that houses all the alien weapons SHIELD has. They research them there, and Hydra has access to all of that." I said.

"Oh-" Eddie proceeded to say some really profane things that I never imagined coming out of his mouth before. "We need to take action."

"We just got another weapon. We got an anonymous text from Thomas Ward, who works in the FBI now. He decided to ignore his older brothers crimes because apparently Mr. Psychopath Murderer saved Thomas from drowning at the hands of their oldest brother, Christian." Red told them all.

"So he wasn't lying about that part." Aunt Skye muttered. "I'm going to find Thomas." she said, pulling out her laptop.

I saw Red start looking at the weapon thoughtfully. "Why would Thomas tell us about this one and not the others? And why would he know? And on top of that, why would he tell us and not take care of it himself?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"I've met Thomas." Sarah said.

"What?" I asked.

"He came to our school once. He was leaving the office when I walked in so I followed him out because he looked a lot like Hydra Ward, and I knew he was related. He noticed me following him and stopped. He knew who my mom was. I do look a lot like her, so it's not surprising. He told me that we're going to have to trust him despite how terrible of a person his brother is." She told us.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Uncle Lincoln asked.

"Because. It wasn't important at the time." she said.

"Sarah, you have to tell us these things." Aunt Skye said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Even I had told you, what would you have done? Make us leave school again until you can make sure the whole premise has extra security measures? Interrogate him?" she asked, annoyed. "You guys don't trust us, but we're capable you know." she said.

The parents all just stared at her. "Do all of you guys feel this way?" Aunt Pepper asked.

"Yes." We all said in unison. They looked taken aback, but there's no time to address that right now.

Red opened the briefcase. "Don't touch that." Ria warned.

She nodded. "I won't. I'm trying to figure something out." she said. Then suddenly the plane lurched and she fell forward, her hands landing on it directly. Then her eyes rolled up to the back of her head and she collapsed. I caught her and Marlin ran to check what happened with the plane.

Then suddenly Red woke up, opening her eyes. But there was something different. Something very wrong about the look in her eyes. They were bright and fairly happy, which is something I haven't seen in a long time.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, you just blacked out." I said.

"What?" she asked.

"Red, you don't remember that?" I asked.

"No. Hi mom. Hi dad." she said, smiling. Smiling?

"Great. Stupid Hydra." Juliana said.

"What's Hydra?" Red asked.

"Jade, not funny." Dianna said.

"I'm serious. What's Hydra? And why do you all look so shocked that I don't know that?" she asked.

"Red, what happened to you when you were 14?" I asked her, trying to see what she remembers.

She looked very confused. "Um, you got your powers? But that didn't happen to me." she said.

"What powers do you have?" Aunt Tasha asked.

"Super soldier serum." she said. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Red, you don't remember anything? Does the name Grant Ward ring any bells? Mark Ronson?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Do you remember what powers I have?" I asked.

"Controlling emotions and controlling fire." she said.

"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" I asked.

"Of course no- wait. I can. What the heck?" she asked. "Explain this. Now." she demanded.

"Crap. Of course." I muttered. "Basically you've forgotten all the terrible things that have ever happened in your life and you don't remember anything and we kind of have a massive problem with SHIELD and we kind of need you right now but you're basically useless like this." I said.

"Maybe not totally useless. Spar with her." Uncle Steve said.

I nodded and she got in her stance. I noticed a weak point immediately. Everyone else noticed it too. That was her critical error when she was younger. Within a few seconds I had her pinned down. That _never_ happens. She got up, but didn't even look surprised that she lost.

"Never mind. She's totally useless." Uncle Tony said.

"Hey!" Red protested. "Can someone explain to me what's going on here?" she asked.

I walked over to the side and gestured for the twins to follow me. They did and I looked at them.

"How does that thing work? Can we reverse it?" I asked.

"Well, if she touched it willingly it got rid of whatever she wanted to forget. In this case, every bad thing that's ever happened to her." Artemis said.

"I don't know if you can reverse it." Apollo said.

But then I realized something. If she wanted to forget it all, would it really be beneficial to her if we do reverse it? Maybe she would be happier if she didn't know.

Logically that won't help anything, because Hydra isn't going to stop trying to get ahold of her, and that means that next time something happens she won't be prepared for it. I'm panicking because what happens if she never goes back to normal?

I walked back out there and pulled myself together. She's going to be fine. She's not dead or injured. So that's good.

Our parents were still on the screen and Marlin was standing next to Thor. My eyes widened.

Artemis and Apollo were smiling, but made no move towards their dad. Marlin probably informed Thor of the situation.

"Hello, son of James and the daughter of Steve." he said.

"I'm Jade and he's Jason. I'm not the daughter of Steve. Well, I am. But that's not what you call people on earth." Red told him.

"Yes, son of Coul informed me of this." he said.

"Eddie?" I asked.

"Philip." he said.

"Oh. Well anyway, do you know how to fix her?" I asked.

"Could someone explain what's wrong with me first?" Red demanded once more.

e, looking very annoyed.

I walked up to her. "Okay, this is going to sound very strange, but I need you to just trust me, okay?" she nodded. "You're a telepath and a telekinetic. You have enhanced super soldier serum. Hydra is an evil organization that's been fighting against SHIELD for years. Your dad fought against them too, back in the 40s. When you were 14, you were kidnapped and tortured for a month by them, when you were 15, my mind got taken over and I- I hurt you. When you were 16, you became a telekinetic- you get the idea. A hell of a lot of bad stuff has happened to you. Do you want to remember it or not?" I asked.

Her eyes were wide. I wonder if she would've looked the same years ago, if someone had told her that she would grow up to have a pretty terrible life. Then her eyes turned hard, determined. That's something a little more familiar.

"I want to remember." she said.

"Are you sure? Because you could forget about all of that and never have to worry about it again." I said.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked. I could answer her the way I really want to, but I can't be that selfish. Even in the past 10 minutes that she's been without her memories, she's such a different person. The selfish part of me wants to tell her to take her memories back, but then the rest me is telling her not to. "I know exactly what you want me to do. I can hear it. Everything going on in your head, I can hear. It's strange really. I can also hear Juliana's thoughts. She's been having anxiety attacks? Why am I not there with her right now? Oh no, I know why. Because I'm an idiot." she said angrily. "And why the hell would I take over somebody's mind, however temporarily, knowing what had happened to you?" she looked ready to punch someone, and this is different from when normal her gets angry. This is uncontrollable. And it's directed at herself.

"You know what, I do want my memories back. I want somebody to punch me when I do." she said, and the others watching looked terrified.

"You don't understand why you did what you did." I said. "There was so much more than what's on the surface." I told her, trying to get her to calm down. She stared me down, even though, once again, she's much smaller, her stare is intimidating and intense.

"No. I understand perfectly. I'm a miserable coward. I don't even understand why I'm here right now. I can't help you defeat Hydra. I'm useless. Every plan I make fails, everyone I try to help gets hurt, everything I do I fail at. There's nothing here. I'm a mean person too. I'm not even sure why you care, because it's not like I deserve it." she said, angrily, her eyes burning. She's the same person, but so different. She's admitting everything. _Everything._ Is this how she really feels about herself?

"Red-"

"No! You don't understand! I can see every single thing I've ever done. Do you want to know something I've never told anyone before? When I was there, in Australia, they injected me with stuff that made me have visions. Okay? I knew every terrible thing that was going to happen to me before it happened. I don't have freaking visions for no reason. They explained it to me actually. My visions will get more common as my powers develop. It's basically me looking at the memories of my future self. That's what your mom does too. I knew all the bad things that were going to happen to you too, but did I warn you? No, of course not. Because I'm stupid and selfish and couldn't handle the flashbacks and the goddamn nightmares that would come with it." she yelled, looking furious, things starting to fly around the room and everyone in the room was feeling mental pain.

But I wasn't thinking about what she just admitted. Or, I was, but something else concerns me more. "How did you know that?" I asked.

"What?" she asked.

"How did you know that. You didn't know that you had been to Australia, much less what happened there." I said.

She shook her head. "I don't know." she said frustratedly, still looking angry. Suddenly she punched the metal table and a giant dent was left behind. She walked away, but then realizing she had no clue where to go, yelled in frustration.

"Calm down." I said quietly. She looked at me.

"Don't you dare tell me to _calm down._ I just admitted to you all my weaknesses. I can't _have_ weaknesses. Not now, not ever. I can't be weak, I can't not know what to do, none of that. That's just not acceptable." she said, annoyed.

I glanced at everyone on the screen and I could see they all looked scared and weren't doing a very good job of hiding it. I mean, Red, without even having any knowledge of how her powers work or having developed them at all, is scaring the king of Asgard. "Look at me." I told her. She did. "You need to calm down. Look around you. You need to control it before you hurt somebody." I said.

She did, taking a deep breath, and the objects in the room weren't flying around as fast and the pain was alleviated.

Suddenly she winced in pain, leaning back against the wall. I walked over next to her. "Red, what's wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I- I d-don't- I don't know. Make it stop." she said.

"What's happening?" I asked. She just shook her head again. "C'mon Red, look at me. Tell me what's going on." I said.

"It's too much. Too much." she said.

"What's too much?" I asked.

"Memories. There's so much." tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were shut tightly.

"You're getting your memory back?" I asked, glancing back at the weapon. Some strange markings on it were glowing blue. "Mom, what is it? What does it do?" I asked her.

I expected her eyes to turn blue, but instead she already seemed to know. "Jason, leave now. Everyone else but Jade file out." I was about to protest. "Jason, trust me. She'll be fine. Just get out of there _now._ " she said. I gave Red one last look and then we left the room. I hate this. She's in pain and we're leaving her alone. Stupid asgardian weapons.

"Thor, can we reverse it?" I asked.

"We can. We just have to activate the reverse function on the weapon and it will return her memories. I activated it before we left." Thor said. I gave him a look.

"This is stupid." I muttered, going to watch through a glass window in the door. She was shaking visibly and several things were knocked over, and she looked terrified.

I could see her eyes staring intensely at a random point in the room, and then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. I winced when she hit the floor, myself already on the way over to her.

Again, her eyes opened, except she looked haunted. I don't blame her. She just had to relive all of her worst nightmares. She started shaking once more and I wrapped my arms around her.

"You're okay. It's all going to be fine." I said quietly.

"I know. I just- I- they weren't supposed to see that or hear that or- they weren't supposed to know." she said.

I looked at the screen, and all of their emotions look conflicted. All of the parents looked pained and all of our friends looked hurt and concerned.

Then Red stood up and dried her tears, standing in front of the camera. "We don't have time for this crap." she said

"Disable all surveillance in the tower. We can no longer trust SHIELD. We need a plan now. My plans always fail anyway, so somebody else should do this." she said bitterly.

I looked at her but didn't say anything. Not now, not here.

"That's stupid." Alana said boldly.

"What's stupid? This situation is stupid, Hydra is stupid, the world is stupid, life is stupid, do I have to go on?" Red replied.

"No, the idea that your plans fail is stupid. You make great plans, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it." Alana said.

"Whatever Alana. You know I'm right. I thought you weren't one to tell me a load of BS that you don't actually believe." she told her.

"You and I both know exactly what I believe. Get your head out of the clouds Jade. We heard what you had to say, we know how you feel, now just let us help you figure this out instead of pushing us away like you always do. I didn't blame you before, and I don't blame you now, and neither does anybody else. So snap out of it." Alana snapped harshly.

"Fine. I'll make a plan. But if any one of you gets hurt because of this plan, I'm done. I'm done with all of it." Red told her, giving her a look.

"What do you mean, you're done with all of it?" Juliana asked quietly, staring at her.

Jade's eyes softened considerably. "Ana-"

"No. Don't you dare. Do you just not care about the rest of us who care about you? Everyone loves you. That's just how it is, and I really don't care if you think that you're 'useless' or 'stupid' because you're not. Okay? You're my sister. You're their daughter." she said, pointing at their parents. "You're his girlfriend." she pointed at me. "You're a friend to all of them. Everyone cares about you and nobody gives any kind of f if you fail because you're human just like everyone else." Juliana said, her eyes burning intensely. Did she just almost half curse? Nobody saw that coming. I swear she looks too much like her sister right now, except, you know, blond.

"Inhuman." Red replied quietly. "I'm inhuman." she said, smiling slightly. "Let's get to work." she said.

Everyone looked at Juliana stunned. She just managed to get Jade to change her mind. That's not something that happens. She's the most stubborn person I know, and when she sets her mind to something, nobody can really change it.

"Here's how it's going to go down. We first need to head to Tampa bay and get rid of all the weapons there. Send them to Asgard. They're safer there." she said, writing on the giant whiteboard on the board. I'd forgotten how her handwriting looked. It's neat, but scrawly, like almost cursive. "Thor will take care of that. We need to raid the facility first. Nobody is aware that we know of Hydra right now. It's better if we keep it that way. Eddie, can you evacuate the building?" she asked Eddie nodded and made a quick phone call.

"Done." he said.

"Good. Now we need to get there and somehow get all the weapons to Asgard as fast as possible. If we need to, we'll send multiple people through the bifrost at once. Then we have to head to the hub. We have to be on guard in case they know that we're on to them. Jase, I need you to see whatever you can get out of Aaron. He's terrified of you." she said, looking at me. I winced slightly. I don't like being feared. I hate it actually, but I nodded anyway. "We need to know how deeply ingrained Hydra is in SHIELD. Agent X, can you see how much data SHIELD has on us and our lives? Aunt Skye, Sarah, can you delete any data on us from their computers? Secure all of our devices." she said.

"Alana and Elliot, get all the planes and weapons ready. Dianna, Robert, Aunt Jemma, Uncle Fitz, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Bruce we need medical supplies. Naomi, Tanner, Uncle Tony, we need all your newest prototypes, everything. Uncle Tony, we also need JARVIS disconnected from everything else. Uncle Leo, uncle Lincoln, we need security systems and the whole base mapped out. Even the secret ones. Mom, can you contact Fury? As much as I hate him he should know. Elliot, we need guns. Lots of them, and bullets too. Aunt Pepper, we need you to shut down any press or any attention on SHIELD." she said. It's kind of amazing to watch her make a plan as she goes.

"Thor, can anyone else enter the bifrost without you?" He nodded and she nodded back, getting the message.

"You guys are staying on this bus with us. Grab whatever things you need. Everyone else I didn't specify, help with whatever you can. Riley and Nina are going to have to come along too. We'll keep them safe. I promise." she said. "Dad, Crossbones is in charge of Hydra now."

"Oh great. I thought we got rid of him." Uncle Steve muttered.

"We also have his son in the interrogation room. He has a snapped wrist and is basically a walking bruise." Red told them.

"Did you do that?" Aunt Tasha asked her.

"She didn't. He did." Ria said.

Everyone turned to me shocked. "What did he do?" Nat asked.

Marlin starting cracking up and I glared at him. "Hydra scum tried to kiss Jade." He said.

Elliot, Tanner, Johnny, and Robert were also cracking up and Naomi nodded in approval. I glared at all of them too and Red smirked at me.

"That wasn't the only reason you know. He also held a gun to her head." I said.

That made everyone go silent. "Let's get to work. We'll be in New York in about an hour. Be ready." I said, then we cut the video connection.

Artemis and Apollo were talking to their dad, as they hadn't been able to before. Then they looked at us. "What are we supposed to do if they come here? They can't meet us."

"Yes they can. They just won't know your identity." I told them.

"Exactly. There are nanomasks over there. You guys are going to be asgardian Warriors that came here with Thor to help out the situation." Red added.

They nodded and then I turned out of the room. I need to go interrogate Aaron. But then Red grabbed my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." I said, trying to shrug off her hand, but instead she gripped it tighter and made me turn around and look at her. " _I'm_ fine, really. Are you though?"

She shrugged. "I'm fine. It's a little bit of a relief, to tell everyone what I did." she said quietly. "But no changing the subject."

Well that failed. "I really am fine. There's nothing wrong." I said.

She shook her head. "Liar. You know I can always tell when you're lying, right? Always have been able to too." she pointed out.

"I'm fine. It is nice to see you step up and take control of the situation." I said. She snorted.

"You're avoiding the question." she told me.

I nodded. "I am."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm worried about you okay? I worry about you a lot. There are so many things you didn't tell anyone, and it took you losing all of your bad memories to tell anyone, and when you did you told everyone." I said.

"What? So I can't have my own private thoughts?" she asked defensively.

I shook my head. "That's not what I'm saying. You've felt that way for over a year now. I know when it started. I knew when it started. I just never knew what 'it' was. I just can't believe you've been carrying that around for so long." I said.

"Telling people doesn't make it go away." she said, shrugging. "If anything, the more others know, the more they can remind me. You don't do that, but the others do it, however unintentionally."

"It doesn't make it go away. Nothing will. Telling people helps though. You need to let it out." I said.

"I can't let it out. I try. Even if I tell you about it, it's still there and I just want to feel semi normal again and it's not working. Even the way they look at me has changed. I used to not care what they think, but it's too hard to do that when I can hear everything they think." she said frustratedly.

"So you just gave up?" I asked.

She looked at me. "What did you say?"

"You gave up. You didn't try anymore." I said matter of factly.

She didn't deny it. "Yeah I did. There's no point trying to do something when you know you're going to fail anyway." she sighed. "But I'll try." she said, looking me in the eye.

"You know that I love you, right?" I asked.

She smiled and stepped closer. "I love you too." she said, and I kissed her, putting my hands on her waist. She put her arms around my neck and deepened it.

"Guys. We have work to do." Ria said, walking back in.

We pulled apart and gave her a look. "Okay okay." I muttered. We went to go interrogate Aaron. I'm going in because he knows I won't hold back.

I walked in and he gave me a look. "I told you want to want to know." he said.

"Well I need to know more. Or is that going to be a problem?" I asked.

"Yes it is." he said.

"Well, now it is." I muttered, getting up. I don't know exactly what I plan to do, I just hope I don't really have to do anything.

He went pale. "Wait. I'll tell you one thing." I raised my eyebrows.

"You're not really in a place to negotiate." I said. "How much do you value your fingers?" I asked nonchalantly. I'm not going to actually do anything. I'm just trying to scare him.

"Fine. As much as you want to know." he said.

"How deeply ingrained is Hydra in SHIELD?" I asked.

"Not very deep. They don't have any agents above level 5." He said.

"How much access does Hydra have to SHIELD data?" I asked.

"I'm not telling you that." he said.

"Okay." I said, then I quickly pressed the barrel of the gun next to his head. It would be so easy to pull the trigger. But I won't. He himself didn't even do much, but all I can see is him holding a gun to Red's head and I realize that this makes me as terrible of a person as him. Except I don't intend to shoot at all.

"Fine. They have a professor in communications at the Academy." he said. "They can access everything up to level 9 data." he said.

"That wasn't so difficult." I said, moving the gun and leaving.

I walked into the observation room where Red was standing. "I almost wish you had shot him. But we need him. Crossbones is one of the few villains that actually cares about his son." she said.

"Isn't that ironic." I muttered. "Well we're here in New York." I said.

She nodded and started doing that thing with her fingers that she always does when she's nervous. Twisting them over one another almost. We started walking to the ramp. She bit the inside of her cheek, another sign she's nervous. "I'm letting them in now, okay?" I said.

She nodded and I did. They all came inside at once. "Who are they?" Alana asked instantly.

"This is Artemis and this is Apollo. They are warriors from Asgard. They came to help Thor out with transporting the weapons." Red lied easily. Matthew looked at us skeptically but then I'm guessing Red told him telepathically, because his face went back to normal.

"Let's go. We're going to be busy. Everyone claim a bunk. There aren't that many, so everyone has to share with one other person, preferably your significant other. Eddie, Nat, you guys get one of the bigger ones so Riley can stay with you guys, and same thing with Nina." Red said, sorting that out.

"Cool." Elliot said. "One question though. Where are the bunks?"

I laughed. "That way. You'll see them." I said. He nodded and they all filed that way.

We walked over there with our friends and then Dianna walked into the bunk next to ours before Elliot interrupted. "No thank you. We're not staying in the bunk right next to theirs. Not until they promise not to do anything." he said.

Red laughed. "We won't. I promise." she said, and she and Dianna shared some kind of look. I don't pretend to understand what that means.

"Oh don't worry Ellie, it'll be fine this time." Alana said, taking the one on the other side of theirs. Apparently she understood the look as well. Elliot, Tanner, and I are confused.

"Why not?" Elliot asked. "I mean, I'm happy about that, because I value my sleep and innocence-" we all snorted at that. "-but why not?"

"Oh Elliot, you don't want to know." Dianna told him, smirking.

"But I do." he insisted.

"No you don't. I promise." Sarah said, walking out of the bunk she and Johnny had claimed.

"Am I the only confused one?" Robert asked, walking out with Naomi.

"No." All the guys, including myself, chorused. Red gave me a look.

"Remember that errand I sent you on a few days ago?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No."

She rolled her eyes. "You braved social judgement in a city we'd never been in before." she added. I went red.

"Oh. I get it now. But, how long do those last?" I asked.

All the girls started laughing hysterically. "Oh god Jade, did you not inform him?" Naomi asked.

"No I didn't. But mine usually lasts around a week. Nims is lucky. Hers only last a few days." she said.

Naomi smiled. "It's in my genes." she said.

Tanner looked like he wanted to throw up, having caught on. "I didn't need to know." he muttered.

"Same." Robert said.

"Boys boys. It's important to know these things. You know, so it doesn't get awkward." Sarah said.

Johnny got it at that point as well. "Ew." he muttered.

"I still don't get it." Elliot said. The girls laughed once more.

"It's okay. You don't need to know." Dianna said, smiling.

"Even I got it." Jack said, smirking.

"GOT WHAT?!" Elliot asked.  
We all just laughed some more. It's good to be back with them.


	22. Foreboding

**Hello guys! Sorry for the long wait! My computer has been broken for a while and I had no way to edit or upload. the TRoAT chapter was uploaded from a friends computer. So anyway, here's the new chapter. Now we're getting into the action!**

(JADE POV)

I bit the inside of my cheek. I left my friends when they weren't paying attention. Jase probably noticed, but he didn't say anything.

I walked up to Juliana and stood behind her. She turned around and nearly jumped, she was so startled. Then she laughed. I missed her laugh. She's so carefree. She does seem a little weighed down, but she's pretty much the same as always. I hugged her tightly and she hugged back. We're the same height now, 5'6".

I smiled and pulled back after at least 10 minutes of just standing there. "You're amazing, you know that?" I asked.

She smiled. "I know." she said brightly. I laughed.

"I mean it." I said, smiling brighter than I have in a while. Then my smile faded slightly. "I missed you. I'm sorry. I should have been there-"

"Shut up." she interrupted. I looked at her amused. "Really, stop it. You're making me feel guilty, you're so apologetic." she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm serious. It's fine. I understand. Honestly, even if you had been home, would it have done any good? You were going to be going through whatever you were going through whether you were home with me or not, and I don't want you to just push it all away for me." she said.

"When did you get so wise?" I asked. To me, the words have a double meaning. I honestly have missed so much of her life. I've been so absorbed in my own problems that I haven't been paying attention to her as much as I should've been.

She smiled. "Must have been just now, because that's the wisest speech I've ever made." she said.

I laughed and hugged her again.

"Aunty Jay!" RIley said excitedly, crawling up to me. I pulled away from my sister and looked at her.

"Hi Riley. You're so big now!" I said, picking her up. She examined my hair in her tiny fingers.

"Aunty Jay, your hair is so . . . poofy!" she said excitedly. I laughed. My hair actually isn't poofy, it's just curly. I don't think she understands what that means.

"But Aunty Ana's hair is so flat." she said, confused. "And yellow. And yours is red. Mommy says you two are sisters so why do you look different?" she asked curiously.

We laughed. "Because, you know Aunt Natasha?" I asked. She nodded. "I look like her, because she's our mommy. And Aunt Ana looks like Uncle Steve, because he's our daddy." I explained.

"But she's a girl and he's a boy." she said, squealing. We laughed. She's honestly so confused as to how a girl can look like her father. It's so amusing.

"Jade?" My mom asked, walking in.

I looked at her, and put Riley down. "Hi mom." I said quietly.

She just stepped forward and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to just leave you guys like that, but- I couldn't-"

"Shh. It's fine. You don't have to apologize for anything." she said. I just took a deep breath and stood there, my head resting on her shoulder. Suddenly all of the recent events started catching up to me. Jase and I were kidnapped together. Mark Ronson was torturing me in front of him. I was barely alive. My scars are fading away from me. I lost my memories periodically. I relived all my worst moments within a minute, and when I was doing that, I looked into the memories of my future self and saw myself attacking Jase. Hurting my future children. I admitted my deepest fears and insecurities to everyone.

I pushed those thoughts away again. Not now.

Then my dad walked in as well. I pulled away from my mom and hugged him. I spent quite a bit of time with them before we had to get to work.

My dad pulled me to the side. "Artemis and Apollo, they're Thor's kids right?" he asked.

"Yeah. They just don't want anyone else to know so we gave them some nanomasks." I said. He nodded.

"It's better that way. If people found out the twin heirs of Asgard live here, well, bad things could happen." he said.

I nodded and we walked back out. I saw Jase hugging Nat, and that made me smile. I was never mad at Natalie to begin with, and I know she cares a lot about Jason, and that means that I can't ever hold a grudge against her because she basically wants the same things as me. And she does care about me too, if anything, she should be the one mad at me. I was overreacting, or maybe not, but I was taking it out in the wrong places.

We started planning things out. Everyone looked at me expectantly. I looked back at them anxiously. "Why are you all staring at me?" I asked, although I know why.

"Because, we need you to tell us the plan. Duh." Naomi said, as though it was obvious. I nodded, not wanting to admit that I don't have a plan and that I'm just going to make it up as I go. I grabbed the whiteboard and a marker.

"Okay. First things first. Teams. Teams have to be divided so that no parents are paired with their own child." I said. The parents looked like they wanted to object before Robert interjected.

"She's right. Logically speaking, parents will be more likely to underestimate our capabilities on the field, and also are compromised because of their loyalty to their child before the cause at hand." Robert said.

"Yes, however, it makes most tactical sense to send in someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses with you. Someone who will watch your back no matter what." My dad said.

I stared him down. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that nobody here will leave anyone behind unless there's legitimate reason, like them being dead."

"A parents would never leave their child, alive or dead." he argued.

"Parents and children often have the same skill sets, and we need variety within the teams." I said.

"Having specialized teams would be better." he objected. I crossed my arms and stared at him and he stared back.

"You wanted me to lead this mission? I'm leading it." I said quietly. "I don't want to, so if you do, by all means."

For some reason he smiled. "It's all yours." he said. "So what do you want to do now?" he asked.

"Teams, let's see. Siblings can't be on the same team either. Couples tend to work well together and have different skill sets, so let's do that." I said.

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "You just want to be with Jason." she teased.

I shrugged. "Maybe I do." I replied, smirking. "Anyway, here's how it's going to work. We need two kids, so adults, and then one medically able person. So teams with either have four or five people, because Naomi, Tanner, Robert, Uncle Bruce, and Uncle Tony can be on the field as well."

"Aunt Skye, Uncle Lincoln, team one with Alana and Tanner."

"Elliot and Dianna, take Artemis with you and Agent X and Uncle James go with them."

"Mom, dad, Sarah, Johnny, and Ria."

"Rosa, Apollo, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Mel."

"Me, Jase, Uncle Tony, Aunt Pepper."

"Juliana, Jack, Aunt Bobbi and Uncle Lance."

"Thor, go with Matthew and Marlin."

"Naomi, Robert, go with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Betty."

"I thought you said no parents with kids." My mom asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I did. However, Uncle Bruce's Hulk is not going to stand for Robert not going with him, and we don't have time to deal with that." I said.

"How did you know?" Uncle Bruce asked.

"I told you. The Hulk thinks really loudly." I replied. I finished determining the last few teams quickly.

"Now we have to decide who's going in. We have to go in and get rid of the weapons. So Thor's team, Artemis's team, and Apollo's team, go in." I said. We finished assembling the plan, my parents objecting every single step of the way. I'm pissed off now.

Jase and I walked out to get our weapons. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You didn't say anything at all when we were making the plan." I said.

He shrugged. "You covered it. Also, you look so pissed off. Are _you_ okay?" he asked.

"

"My parents are annoying." I said.

His lips twitched. "I think they're smart."

I glared at him. "How so?" I asked.

"They were trying to get you to stop doubting yourself." he said. I looked at him skeptically and he shrugged. "They were challenging you. They argued with you so you could justify your actions to yourself, not to them. They know you know what you're doing. You're the one that doesn't believe in yourself."

I looked at him shocked. I wanted to say that's not true, but that would be a lie. A massive lie. He shook his head. "You know, I'm a little surprised you didn't know that."

"Why?" I asked. "Why would I know what they're thinking?" I asked, then groaned. "Never mind." He smirked.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he teased me.

I hit his arm. "You're so mean." I said.

He laughed. "No really, I have no idea why you would know what they're thinking. Absolutely no idea why I would ever think that. That's ridiculous." he said, smirking.

"I hate you." I said.

"No you don't. You love me." he replied.

"Maybe." I said. He raised his eyebrows at me. "Okay. I love you." I said, smiling.

"I love you too." he said. He kissed me, and I put my arms around his neck. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer.

"Guys! We have to go. Stop it." Sarah interjected, walking down the hall. He pulled away and I groaned.

"Stupid Hydra." I muttered. He laughed.

"Let's go." he said, smiling.

We went on comms while Matthew, Marlin, Thor, Artemis, Apollo, Rosa, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Mel, Elliot, Dianna, and Jase's parents go in. We've just landed in Florida.

"Make sure that you keep your true intentions secret. Hydra doesn't know we're onto them, but after this they will. Let's avoid injury. Eddie, you should go with them." I said.

They nodded and walked out of the plane. I sucked in a sharp breath. What if something happens? What if my plan fails?

Jase placed his hand on my back, right in between my shoulder blades. I looked back at him.

"They're going to be fine." he told me quietly.

"I don't want to do this. Can somebody else take over?" I asked.

He shook his head. "We don't need anybody else to take over." he said. I smiled wryly.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind eventually." I muttered, looking straight ahead.

He turned me around and I stared at him, slightly startled. His hands were on my shoulders. "Everyone here knows you're more than capable except for you. You escaped a Hydra facility by yourself when you were starved and injured. You've held on through every single bad thing that's ever happened. You survived, and that wasn't just by chance. _That's_ why I'm so sure that nobody is going to change their minds, and that your plan will work." he said, looking me in the eyes intensely.

I looked at him, but didn't say anything. I don't know what to say. Nobody else is still here, they went to operate the comms. I just know that I'm so crazily in love with him. I kissed him.

He kissed back, his hands sliding down my arms, then back up to my shoulders. I kissed him harder, because for once there were no interruptions.

I pulled away slightly, looking in his eyes. "I love you." I said against his lips.

"I love you too." he replied, kissing me again. His hands slid down to mine once more and I laced my fingers with his. His hands have been roughened by years of holding guns and pulling triggers, and mine have been too. But somehow, when they're together, it's like that roughness disappears.

He started kissing down my neck, starting from my jaw. I shivered slightly.

He got towards my shoulder, and then he loved straight back up, retracing his steps. And then, of course, we were interrupted.

"Guys, stop it. We have serious business to take care of." Aunt Jemma said, annoyed, popping her head in and then leaving once more. I groaned.

"I don't like Hydra." I said, resting my head on his chest. He laughed.

"I don't think anybody does."

"No really. We hardly ever have time to do anything anymore." I complained. He laughed again. "Don't laugh. I mean it."

"Sorry, sorry." he said, smiling. I sighed and pulled away.

"We should go." I said. He nodded and we walked into the room where everyone else was.

"Guys, there's a lot of weapons here." Marlin said, sounding surprised.

"There's over 3000 weapons in here Agent Checlin." Eddie replied.

(MATTHEW POV)

Artemis, Apollo, and Rosa are here and they shouldn't be. Artemis and Apollo, well, they can handle themselves. Rosa, even though our parents taught her self defense, has never actually used it before. Jason and Jade are actually very good liars. Nobody suspected that Artemis and Apollo were actually Thor's kids.

We had started to transport weapons into Asgard when some agents approached us. "What are you doing?" They asked.

"They're Hydra." Jade said over the comms.

"They're under my orders. Go back to your station." Eddie said, giving him a look. The guy nodded hesitantly and walked back to his station.

Then suddenly a gunshot rang out and Eddie yelled, grabbing his shoulder. He moved his hand and blood was covering it. We started searching around for the source when I saw the red dot of a sniper trained on Uncle Andrew. "Get down!" I yelled, just as the bullet shot past him.

"Thanks." he said.

"No problem, We have to go faster. Artemis, let's go. Everyone take as many as you can." I said.

(LATER)

We got back on the plane tiredly. Eddie has a hole in his shoulder that needs to be stitched up. Dianna managed to get the bullet out and stop the bleeding, but she couldn't close up the injury without supplies.

Elliot has a large cut on his leg.

But we succeeded in what we had to do. That's all that matters.

Also, I have to share a bunk with Apollo. Don't get me wrong, we're good friends and all that, but I really don't want to share a bed with him.

(NEXT MORNING, ALANA POV)

I woke up and felt something heavy on my stomach. Then I remembered. I saw Tanner's arm lying across my stomach, his other arm covering his eyes. He's so cute when he's asleep. He also tends to sprawl out and move around a lot in his sleep, so I'm surprised I didn't fall off the bed at any point. The sheets were completely off of both of us.

I also move around a lot, so our limbs were tangled. Other than that, neither of us fell off, so that's good. My leg was underneath one of his and my other was on top of him entirely. One of my arms was pinned down under his next to me. I'm not going to be able to move until he wakes up and he doesn't usually get up until later.

Instead I just stared at him. His dark hair has always been cut short, but he hasn't cut it in a while and right now it's all over the place. His jawline is sharp even though all of his features are relaxed.

This is slightly nerve wracking. Elliot got hurt. I wonder how many of us are going to get hurt before this is over.

I sighed and turned my head back towards Tanner. He woke up just then and looked at me.

"Come on sleepy head. We have to get up soon." I said.

"No." he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Tanner, come on. I know you're not sleeping." I said.

"I am sleeping." he said, his voice dry and quiet.

"Well, you're talking to me, so clearly you're awake." I said.

"Ssshhhhhhh." he whispered. I moved away from him and got up.

"No. Come on, get up!" I said.

"Alana." he mumbled.

"Listen, I know you need your beauty sleep and all that, but you have to get up now." I said firmly.

He groaned and sat up. "I don't like you."

"Yes you do." I replied, smiling. He threw a pillow at me and I threw it back. In his face.

He groaned and turned around, burying his face in the pillow. "Go away." he told me, the sound muffled by the pillow.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arms, pulling him up.

"Come on Tanner." I said. He hugged my waist and looked at me.

"Please can I go back to sleep?" he asked.

"No." I said, smiling.

"Please?"

"No!" I said. "Tanner, let's go." I said.

He groaned and stood up finally. "Fine. There, I'm up." he said.

"Good. I'm going to take a shower. Don't go back to sleep!" I said.

He groaned again. "Fine." he said. I started thinking about the day ahead. I don't know how Jade and Jason do it. Elliot didn't even get that hurt and I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about who's going to be next. Eddie had a bullet in his shoulder. Hydra had infiltrated SHIELD. The only people we can trust are on this plane.

"Are you okay?" Tanner asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I'm fine." I said, shrugging.

"No you're not. You're thinking about Elliot and Eddie aren't you?" he asked. I nodded.

"Who's going to get hurt next? Elliot didn't even get that hurt and I can't stop worrying about it. Eddie got shot. That was the easiest part of the plan according to Jade." I said.

"I know. But Jade's plan is a good one. None of us will get so badly hurt that we can't come back from it. And remember, our parents have done this before, back when Hydra had completely taken over SHIELD." he said.

"You're right. I just worry, you know? Like, what if somebody doesn't make it out of this?" I asked quietly.

"Everyone is going to make it out of this alive. I promise." he said.

"You can't promise that." I said.

"Yes I can." he replied, "Don't you think someone would've noticed a flaw in the plan of there were any? There aren't any, which is why nobody noticed." he said.

"I love you, you know that?" I asked.

"I love you too." he replied. I kissed him and walked into the bathroom to shower.

(SARAH POV)

I lied. I'm lying to all of them. But they can't know. I'm trying to hide that part of my brain away from Jade. I realized I can control my own bioelectricity so that it repels outward, blocking Jade from accessing it, awhile ago.

"Sarah?" Johnny asked from next to me. I turned around and looked at him. "You're not telling us something." he said.

"That's ridiculous. There's nothing to tell." I said.

"You're a terrible liar." he said.

"Fine. But I'm going to tell everyone at once. It's a long story and I don't want to repeat myself." I said.

"Okay." he said.

"We should probably get up now." I said.

"Do we have to?" he asked.

"We should." I said.

"Okay." he said.

"On second thought. I kind of want to stay here and sleep." I said.

"Sarah, we have to wake up." he told me.

"Johnny, let's just stay here. Please?" I asked.

"I really don't have a problem with that. But Hydra is still out there." he said.

"Right." I mutter, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I got up and he followed suit.

(JACK POV)

I woke up and saw Juliana staring at me blankly, pinning my arms above my head.

"Ana. What are you doing?" I asked tiredly. She moved away.

"Sorry. I woke up and forgot where I was and didn't know who was next to me. I decided to take precaution." she said.

"Oh. I thought you were still asleep." I said, smiling.

"Yeah. I would think that too." she said. "I'm happy Jade's back."

"Yeah? I'm afraid she'll murder me in my sleep." I joked. She laughed.

"She actually likes you you know." she told me.

"I know. I'm probably her favorite out of all of the boyfriends you've had." I said, smirking. Ana has never had any other boyfriends.

"Well yeah. By default." she said, smiling.

"How did you sleep last night?" I asked.

"Surprisingly well. You're like a statue when you sleep." she told me.

"I know. I don't know why." I said.

"It's a good thing." she said smirking. "I kick a lot in my sleep."

"I know." I replied. She laughed.

"We should get up." she said.

"Yeah, probably." I agreed.

(NAOMI POV)

I woke up next to Robert, who looked so peaceful. I smiled slightly and played with his short black curls absentmindedly. I thought about what's happening. I guess now we have a window into Jade and Jason's world. They deal with this stuff all the time.

I'm nervous. Very nervous. Everyone is. Even Tanner, who never looks nervous, is nervous. His eyes always flicker around when he's nervous, I know because I do the exact same thing.

I wonder how this is going to play out. I have the worst feeling that something is about to go seriously wrong. I also have a bad feeling that Robert and I aren't going to be on the same side.

I know only one thing. We're not going to make it out of this unscathed.


	23. Brainwashing

**Hello everyone! Here's a new chapter! This was not original plan but it adds so much more depth and emotion to the next few chapters that would otherwise be only action. You guys probably noticed that I'm not good with writing fight scenes. XD. Enjoy! :)**

(ELLIOT POV)

Dianna and I went downstairs where we heard talking, but it was Jade and Jason, looking exhausted, arguing with each other. They both looked mad, very mad.

"Hold up guys. What happened?" I asked.

They both snapped their heads over to us and they sighed. "Where are our parents?" Dianna asked.

"They're in the kitchen." Jason said.

"I'm going to wake everyone else up." Jade said, leaving.

I looked at Jason. "What happened? Why were you guys arguing?" I asked.

He shook his head. "We weren't arguing. We were just having a heated conversation." he said. "She and I are going in the field today with Aunt Pepper and Uncle Tony. We needed a plan."

"Are you planning on telling the rest of us this plan?" Dianna asked.

"Yeah." he said.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"Did you guys go to sleep last night?" Di asked.

"No. We didn't." he said, and then everyone else flooded in, including our parents.

"Uncle Tony, Aunt Pepper, we're leaving in 10 minutes. We're heading into the Hub. Hydra knows we're on to them now. They're not going to let us in there easily. Also, we're going to have to call in some favors." Jade said, saying the last part bitterly.

"Aria. You want Aria here?" Uncle Steve asked.

"As much as I despise her, she has some capabilities. She can make a good plan." Jade said. "If you don't want her here then we won't ask her to come. I don't really want to be within a 50 mile radius of her, much less have her on the same plane."

"What did she do?" Alana asked. "And who is she?"

"She's my older half-sister."

"Hold up. Which side?" Sarah asked.

"Dad's."

"Your dad cheated on your mom?!" Naomi asked disbelievingly.

Jade facepalmed and all the adults just looked amused. "No! Do you really think _my dad_ of all people would ever cheat on anyone, much less my mom?! Anyway, she was born in a Hydra lab out of my dad's DNA." she said exasperatedly.

"Good point. Capsicle is too much of a goodie two shoes. That, and Little Red Riding Hood would kill him." Uncle Tony said.

"For once Tony is right. I would kill him." Aunt Tasha said, smiling.

"Hey!" Uncle Tony and Uncle Steve objected. We all laughed.

"How old is she?" Juliana asked. "What does she look like?"

"She's the same age as Nat and Eddie, so 28. She looks exactly like you, except taller. And she's not important. She's a-" she cut herself off, seeing her dad giving her a look. "-a bad word." she finished. We laughed.

"Anyway, we're leaving now." Jason said. He hasn't been talking much at all in the past couple of days.

"Okay. Be safe." Nat told him.

He smiled dryly. "Yeah, okay." he said. Then the four of them left the room. Di looked at me pointedly.

"What?" I asked.

"How is your leg?" she asked.

I shrugged. "It's fine. I forgot about it." I said.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Liar. Come on." she said. I sighed and followed her.

(LATER)

When the four of them came back, Jade and Jason were both covered in blood and Uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper were each restraining them. They were glaring at each other menacingly.

"What happened?" Uncle Steve asked.

"They're brainwashed. Can somebody ice them? We need to get them into the lab so we can use that technology we created for Barnes." Uncle Tony said. I pulled out my icer and shot both of them just as they were about to escape from their grasps.

Everyone looked at me and I shrugged. "Better sooner than later." I said. They nodded.

"How did they get brainwashed?" Uncle James asked.

"We split up. They went to make sure the research facilities are secure and they didn't come out for a while so we followed them and found them basically fighting to the death." Uncle Tony said, for once serious.

"What the hell-"

"Language cap!" Uncle Tony interrupted. "Where's Legolas?"

"I don't know. Come on. We have to break their brainwashing." Natasha said, taking Jade from Pepper.

"Okay, here, this should work. It's going to hurt them though." Tony said, strapping them both into metal chairs. Electrodes were placed on their temples.

"Okay. Just get it over with." Agent X said, gritting her teeth.

Uncle Tony nodded and pressed a button and the process started. Their eyes snapped open and they started screaming. My eyes widened. Dianna laced her fingers with mine and I squeezed her hand lightly.

This is painful to watch. I don't want to be here. They looked strained. And then suddenly the machine turned off.

We looked at Uncle Tony who looked just as confused as we do. He was frantically working at the machine, when Jason literally melted the restraints away.

"I thought those were vibranium?" I asked.

"They are. He shouldn't have been able to do that." Uncle tony said. Jason got up and walked straight towards Jade. But the look in his eyes told me it's not because he wants to make sure she's okay. I grabbed my icer and iced him again. But this time, he ducked. He grabbed a gun off the side table- remind me why we have guns lying around everywhere- and shot me. I grit my teeth and tried icing him some more, but he avoided everything. We all tried to stop him, but he was overpowering all of us. Instead he grabbed Jade and ran out.

We all stared in shock as he left. What's happening?

(JASON POV)

I'm supposed to kill her. She's the target. I have a gun. I should just do it now. But for some reason she looks vaguely familiar. And a good familiar too, like we were friends or something. I have a vague memory of us hugging, but that doesn't make sense.

I grit my teeth and pulled out my gun. I should shoot her now. This is too much thinking on my part. It's better to get this over with.

Then suddenly she had me in a chokehold and so I flipped her on her back. She got up and punched me hard, so I punched her harder back.

We were fighting viciously and we were both bleeding now. I used my fire and grabbed her arm that was punching and was clearly her favored arm, and burned it. She growled and ripped her arm away, elbowing me under the chin.

We continued fighting, her punching my eye and I punching her nose and I managed to push her up against a wall. Then I got a flashback of some kind I guess, I saw us kissing, except instead of a concrete wall, it was a door she was pushed against. What the hell?

She glared at me and then something else happened. I saw her looking at me glaring, but this was somewhere else.

" _Maybe I won't."_ I heard her say coldly, and now those words were ringing in my head.

She tried to use that opportunity to get out, but I quickly pulled out my gun and she stopped moving.

I aimed for her head, and I saw all of her muscles tensing, which for some reason seems familiar.

And then, I don't know why, but I grabbed her neck instead, cutting off her airway so she'd pass out instead of dying.

She kicked and punched but I wasn't letting go. And eventually she slumped down to the ground, unconscious and bleeding a lot.

Then I saw her sitting in a metal chair, looking very similar to how she does now. " _C'mon Red. Just stay with me."_ I heard a voice say. I think that voice is my own, but I'm not sure. I think she's the Red. But red is a color not a name.

I'm so confused. This should've been simple. She's the target. That's all.

I sat there for a few hours, brooding over this, deciding whether or not to kill her while I have the chance. It would be easy.

She woke up and stared at me. "Are you Red?" I asked.

"Who is red? Red is a color." she replied.

"Oh. So you're not red." I said. She then looked very very confused, and her eyes had a faraway appearance in them.

"No. I am Red. And you're Jase." she said.

" _Jase, I love you."_ I heard her say to me in my head. I stared at her. She stared back calculatingly.

"You're the target." she said, her voice cold. Then she attacked me, kicking me in the place where it hurts most and elbowing me in the chest, wrenching my arm behind my back all in one fluid motion.

I pulled away my arm and kicked her away. She punched me, hard, each time breaking the skin.

I don't want to hurt her. But she's hurting me. And she's the target.

I kicked back, knocking the breath out of her and slamming her back against the wall. She charged me again, grabbing my leg as I kicked and wrenching it up, causing me to land on my back. I shot my legs up to kick her out of the way and to propel myself upwards and she flipped above my legs. She landed behind me and got on my back, pounding away at my skull, choking my neck.

I lifted her off, throwing her to the floor and kicking her side. She grunted in pain but got up, sweeping her leg out and kicking my legs out from under me. I grabbed her and pulled her down too.

We ended up at each other's throats. I had a flame pressed to her neck and she had a knife pressed to mine.

Then suddenly I had a flashback.

" _As much as I enjoy fighting you, I think I like kissing you better."_

" _Much more fun."_

I snapped out of it but saw her blade pressed close to my neck, less than a millimeter of space between them. But for some reason she was holding back.

"You're- you said-" Her voice was hoarse and she looked conflicted.

"Do I- do I know you?" I asked, also conflicted.

"I think you do." she replied, moving the knife away.

"Do you know me?" I asked.

"I think so." she said, glaring.

"Are you going to try and kill me?" I asked coldly. She's still the enemy. Then suddenly I was pressed against a wall, my hands pinned above my hands.

"I said I loved you. And you said it back. So who. Are. You?" she hissed, glaring at me.

(STEVE POV)

Everyone is looking to me for a plan of action and I don't have one. I'm distracted. I need to focus. Right now all my thoughts are focusing on Jade who was basically kidnapped by her very dangerous boyfriend, and they both so conveniently are brainwashed and don't remember each other.

I steeled my nerves. Those two are different. They'll remember each other. If Bucky remembered me after 70 years, then those two will remember each other.

"We're going to take down Hydra now. Jade and Jason can take care of themselves. They won't kill each other." I said.

"Are you kidding? We can't just let them run out there." Natasha said.

"Nat-"

"No. They're brainwashed Steve. She could die." she said.

"This is exactly what Hydra wanted. They want us to focus all of our attention on them and allow them time to manifest. If they have any more time than they do already, it could be very dangerous."

"I'm going to find them." she said.

"Capsicle is right. If we take them down now, we can do it quickly and efficiently and it'll be easier to find and deal with Jade and Jason." Tony said.

"Tony, you wouldn't understand. How would you feel if Naomi or Tanner was missing with another person who's brainwashed and wants to kill them?" Pepper demanded. "I'm on Natasha's side."

This happens too often. Everyone turns against me and we get torn apart.

"Logically mom, the best course of action is to take down Hydra first." Tanner said.

"Tanner, I don't know what you're talking about. They'll kill each other. Either that or they'll be so evenly matched that they'll just spend the rest of their lives fighting each wherever they are." Alana interjected.

"Lana, that's probably not going to happen." Elliot said.

"Oh sure it's not Elliot! If you look at the probability it's actually highly likely." Dianna said.

"I don't know what probability you're looking at Dianna, but it's far more likely that their brainwashing will break before we find them, regardless of when we do that." Robert said.

"How would they feel if we just let them leave?" Naomi demanded.

"Exactly. We can't be such a letdown. We need to find them and fix them. Also, how do you expect to take down hydra without them?" Sarah asked.

"No offense, but you guys are all old now." Juliana added.

"They're not that old." Jack argued.

"They're still plenty capable. And anyway, we're not entirely useless."Johnny said, backing up his brother.

"Honestly. I say we go find them." Aunt Betty said.

"Let's take a vote. What do you say Captain? Surely you can't object to a democratic method to making this decision." Natasha said to me icily. I rolled my eyes.

"I understand that you're worried about her, I am too. But can you please just trust me?" I murmured quietly.

She stared at me. "If this were any other situation I would trust your judgement. But this is my daughter we're talking about here." she replied, equally as quiet as all the couples around us continued arguing.

"She's my daughter too." I muttered. "We're going to take a vote. Just move to one side of the room if you want to get Jade and Jason first and the other if you want to take down Hydra first." I said.

"Wow cap. True to your name." Tony quipped. I rolled my eyes.

"It was Natasha's idea." I said.

"The Russian assassin opted for a vote?" Tony asked, feigning shock.

"Anthony this is serious." Pepper chastised, and she actually looked very displeased.

Tony rolled his eyes at the full name usage.

The end results made my eyes widen. It was guys versus girls. Everyone's split up. Families. Siblings. Mothers and daughters are together and fathers and sons. But Natasha and Juliana are both on the other side. I've had to fight Natasha once before, and it was a painful experience.

(JADE POV)

We sat across from each other, studying each other, picking the others brain.

I remember telling him I love him. I remember him saying it back.

I remember straddling his waist and hitting him with a stuffed bear inside a gym if some sort. That memory confuses me. I remember what his laugh sounds like, but he hasn't laughed at all yet.

To be quite honest, I would not object to having been in love with him in the past. I mean, he's very good looking, even with his and my blood covering him. He seems like he's a decent person.

He held back. He could've killed me, but he didn't.

But he's the target. I must kill him. I have to. But I can't bring myself to do that. For some reason I feel like he's important, like killing him would be the worst thing I can possibly do. I'll just have to keep him on his toes so he doesn't cross me, and I have to keep my distance, so if he does cross me, I can kill him easily.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"In DC." he replied.

"Why?"

"Because it's far enough away from whatever those people were trying to do with us, but close enough where we could go back if need to." he explained.

"We?" I asked.

"Yes we. I haven't killed you yet and you haven't killed me either. But you're the target. You're staying with me."

"You're my target. If anything, I'm the leader here." I replied.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You're going to listen to me or I'm going to shoot." I said, pressing the gun against his head.

"Go for it." he said, glaring intensely at me, looking me in the eyes. "You won't. You can't."

"Yeah? Why can't I?" I asked.

"Because you won't be able to." he replied. Before I knew what was coming, he flipped the gun out of my hands and had it pressed against my head. I pulled out my knife from my sleeve and pressed it against his neck.

"Drop it." I said.

"No."

"A knife is faster than a gun and you know it. I'll kill you before you kill me." I threatened.

"I didn't do anything." he said, grinning. Suddenly I had another memory. He was staring out of a plane, his dark eyes looking golden in the lighting. He grinned at me.

And then I snapped back to it and he was holding the knife too.

"Go ahead. Kill me." I said.

He looked about ready to, when he put the gun down. "I can't."

"You can. You just won't." I said.

"You won't kill me either." He replied.

"I'm ready to murder you. It just-" I cut myself off. He's the enemy. I can't show any weakness.

"It's just what?" he pressed.

"It seems like you're important." I said simply. "But betray my trust, and I won't hesitate." I said.

"I don't have your trust yet." he said.

"And you may never." I replied, annoyed. "Just stop talking. We can't stay here forever."

"We?" he mocked. I glared at him. "Fine. We'll take a plane from the Hub." he said.

"Fine. Let's go." I agreed.

We left, on foot, and walked into the Hub sneakily, ready to shoot anyone who got in our way.

"Aunty Jay!" A little girl said excitedly, holding her arms up to me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Up up!" she said.

"I don't know who you are."

"Aunty Jay….." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. I sighed and picked her up.

"Look kid. Go find your mom."

"I feel like she's important." The mysterious guy who in my memories I called Jase said.

"Yeah no duh. She's going to get us caught." I replied. "What's your parent's name?"

"N-Natalie. Mommy!" she wailed. The guy clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Riley. Can you tell me what my name is?" he asked.

"You're Uncwe Jathon." she said, having a slight lisp.

"Who am I?" I asked.

"You're Aunty Jay! And you're being mean." she accused.

"Sorry kid. So my name is Jay?" I wondered out loud.

"No. Ja- Jade." she struggled to say.

"Thanks kid. Go find your mom." I said. She nodded and left.

"She's my Niece. Natalie is my sister." he said, looking confused.

"Yeah, and we're in love. Those memories aren't even real." I said, annoyed.

"Let's go." he said hastily. We walked out, grabbed a plane, and I immediately got in the pilot's seat.

"I'm flying." I said.

"How do I know you're not going to fly me to my death?" he asked.

"Because. I'm not that mean." I replied.

"How would you know? You didn't even know your name." he said.

"I know how it feels. That's enough." I muttered.

"You're hurt." he said.

"Thanks for stating the obvious. It's hot like I'm covered in blood or anything." I said dryly.

"No I mean it. You have a seriously bad injury. Where?"

"My arm. I'm fine." I said.

"You're clearly not." he replied, lifting up my shirt sleeve. I tended at the physical contact, but for some reason, it feels right. I relaxed.

I glanced down at my arm and was surprised to see the scars covering my skin. I had a flashback.

" _Hmmm. You don't like the knives?"_ I heard Jason, I guess, saying. He looked younger though. Maybe 13 or 14. But the scene where we said we love each other happened recently so how could I have loved him if he tortured me?

I glared at him and aimed a gun at him. "You tortured me." I said.

"No I didn't." he replied. "None of those memories are even real, remember?" he taunted. I put away the gun and glared at him still.

"I remember something." He muttered, pulling his hands away from me, frowning.

(NATASHA POV)

I can't believe Steve right now. I cannot believe him. He would sacrifice the greater good of the world for Bucky, turn against Tony, do all of that for Bucky, but he won't do it for his own daughter.

We all ended up in jail because of him and his choices. At the time, I knew he was right. I still know he was right about that. But this time? Jade could be dead now for all we know. Maybe I'm being selfish by wanting to go after Jade first.

But you know what, I couldn't care less. My baby is missing with her brainwashed boyfriend and they both want to kill each other. I know how Hydra's brainwashing works. They take away all information from you except what's necessary for the mission. For all we know, all Jade remembers of Jason is the fake him torturing her. And if she remembers that, she won't hesitate to kill him.

When she comes out of the brainwashing, she won't be able to forgive herself and move on. And that's how Hydra works. They assign missions that, if achieved, leave scars afterwards that can't be healed.

She would be completely and utterly inconsolable. There will be nothing we can do. And Steve isn't seeing that.

I know he loves Jade just as much as I do, no doubt about it. But right now he's not seeing this as an immediate problem.

"Mommy mommy mommy." Riley said, crawling in.

"One second sweetie." Natalie replied, looking at Eddie crossly.

"Mommy." Riley said insistently. "Aunty Jay told me to find you."

"Jade?" Natalie asked, and we all snapped our heads to look at the toddler.

"Yeah! And uncle Jathon was there too. Aunty Jay was being mean." she said.

We all looked at each other. Jade loves Riley. She would never be mean to her unless she didn't remember her.

"Jason and Jade were together? Riley, did they have any ouches?" Eddie asked her.

Riley nodded, looking confused. "They had lots of ouches. They looked confused."

"They're remembering. That's good. That means the brainwashing is breaking." Steve said.

"All the more reason to go find them now." I said.

"Care to enlighten me?" Steve replied.

"What if Jade remembers the fake Jason torturing her? What then? She'll kill him on the spot, no doubt. You know how she'll react when the brainwashing is broken." I said.

"Natasha, memories will only come back if they're triggered." Tony objected.

"Dammit Tony they're covered in blood! If that's not trigger enough then what is?" I demanded. "I'm going after them. Anyone else who wants to join is welcome." I said, turning and leaving.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Natasha-"

"Don't tell me not to go."

"I wasn't planning on it. Just be careful." he said, looking me in the eyes.

I nodded and looked at him. "Am I freaking out over nothing? Be honest." I said.

"I'm always honest. I told you that. You're perfectly justified in freaking out." he replied.

"You're not freaking out." I said.

"I never said that. Go. Be safe. I love you." he said.

"I love you too. But really Steve. When am I ever careful?" I asked.

"Never. There a first time for everything right?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah, but not today." I said, smirking.

"A guy can hope." he said.

(NAOMI POV)

I stared at Robert, annoyed. "Listen. I'm just talking logically." he said.

"So am I. Do you really think that we have a chance at taking down Hydra without them on the same side? With them brainwashed Hydra could make them fight us! Those two together could easily take us all down single handedly." I said.

"But if we take down Hydra now they won't see it coming. They'll think we went after Jade and Jason first. Then we could take them down faster without having to fight Jason and Jade." he said.

"Robert. I'm not budging on this one." I said.

"You're so stubborn." he muttered.

"Anything else you'd like to point out, Captain Obvious?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and was about to respond before my chest tightened and suddenly I was unable to breathe. I leaned against him.

"Naomi. Are you okay?" Robert asked, his eyes wide. I shook my head, unable to speak. I was struggling to breathe. He pulled down the top of my shirt slightly and looked at my arc reactor. I'm guessing it's bright red right now. His eyes widened even further.

"She's having a heart attack." he said, and when nobody listened. "She's having a _heart attack_!" he yelled at them. That made the room room go silent except for my family. Tanner who was shocked, my mom who was panicking, and my dad who was muttering all the curse words he knows while trying to fix me.

"Your arc reactor needs to be repowered." My dad said, picking me up and taking me down to the lab I'm assuming.

"She has an arc reactor?!" Tanner asked.


	24. Plans Unfold

**Hello everyone! Not much to say for this chapter. Enjoy. :)**

(NAOMI POV)

"Yes. She has the same heart problems as your dad." Mom replied.

"And you never thought to mention that?!" he demanded.

"It wasn't important." My dad muttered, frantically working with the wires he hasn't used manually in years because it hasn't been necessary. It recharges in our sleep.

"What the hell do you mean, it wasn't important?! It's not important that she could basically die at any moment? And why doesn't it glow like yours?" he asked, mad. I've only seen him this mad a few times. If I could breathe I would make fun of him for how much he cares. To be honest, it's kind of heartwarming that he cares that much. I know he does, he just doesn't show it that often.

"It does. Hers is smaller and the glow is more faint. Did you really think I would make a arc reactor on her chest with a bright light? Not happening on my watch." my dad replied.

"Tanner. It's okay. We didn't really want anyone to know." Mom told him.

"Robert knows." he said.

"Of course Robert knows. He's seen it. And besides, we needed someone with medical skills." Dad told him, annoyed.

"Tanner, listen. She said she didn't really want anyone to know. And that's it." Mom said. If I could wince I would've. I meant to tell him, I really did. But how do you tell your twin brother, oh by the way, I have some serious heart issues I got from dad and I have an arc reactor but they didn't tell you because they wanted it to be my decision that I wasn't old enough to make until I was 10, and even then they doubted my decision making skills, and so here you go, do what you want with that information? I tell him basically everything, yet I didn't tell him about this.

"Shut up! You're stressing her out." Robert snapped. "Her heart rate is increasing even more."

"Sorry." Tanner said, sounding genuinely regretful, but still angry. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine. In fact, she should be fine . . . now." Dad said. I felt a shock run through my entire body, and then it was over and I could breathe. I took in a giant breath.

"First of all, I'm really really really really sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't even know what it was and just assumed that it was something everyone had until I was ten. And then mom and dad told me and I just decided not to tell anyone. The only reason Robert knows is because- well, you know. And I meant to tell you, I just kind of didn't know how and didn't want-"

"Naomi. It's fine." he interrupted. "You literally just had a heart attack. Calm down." he said.

"But-"

"I mean it. It's fine." he cut me off again.  
"Stop cutting me off." I said.

"Nope." he replied. I rolled my eyes and I saw mom and dad cracking small smiles.

"Well you recovered quickly." Dad said.

"Yeah. No thanks to you guys. You were causing me additional stress." I accused.

"Guilty as charged. Come on. We have decisions to make." Dad said.

"Right. I'm still right and you're still wrong." I said.

"No you're not right. I'm right." Dad argued.

"No you're not."

"Am too. I'm always right." he said.

"No. I'm always right. You're usually wrong." I corrected.

"Not true. You're basically the female, less attractive version of me." he said.

"Uhuh. First of all, I am _much_ more attractive than you. Second, I have your- whatever it is that makes you sometimes right, smarts maybe? And I have mom's logic. So I'm automatically better." I replied.

(JASON POV)

I don't know if what I'm remembering is real or not. I don't think it is. It doesn't make sense. None of it does.

"I'm just going to call you Jase." she said. "I've been referring to you as the target. But I'm assuming that we're going to ignore that, yes?" she asked.

"I suppose I'll call you Red. And yes. We're ignoring the fact that we are each other's targets." I replied.

"Do you remember any family?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I remember my sister, and that girl, Riley. Other than that, no." I said.

"I remember my little sister, and a shield. Red, White, and Blue." she said.

I nodded and we stayed silent. Then a video connection popped up from the plane. "Agents Rogers and Smith. I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, hijacking a plane." It was an african american man, pretty old, bald, with only one eye and an eyepatch covering the other.

"Look here Pirate. I don't know who you are or what you want. Stay out of our way or we'll kill you." she said.

Then I had a flashback. " _Don't make threats you can't carry out."_ he said.

I looked at him. "We won't hesitate." I warned, shutting down the video connection. "He called us those names. Let's search them up." I said.

She nodded pulling up a screen. She typed a few things in. "Please place your eye level to the retina scanner." A robotic voice said.

I did as told and it dinged. "Welcome, Agent Smith. Welcome, Agent Rogers."

I typed in Agent Smith into the search bar and a few results popped up.

 **Agent James Damion Smith**. a man who looked very similar to me, except with blue eyes.

 **Agent Natalie Adrianna Smith.** a woman, who I had seen in my flashback. She's my sister.

 **Agent Jason Tripplet Smith.** Me. I clicked on myself and numerous things popped up. I tapped 'relations'

 **Mother: Agent X**

 **Father: Agent James Damion Smith**

 **Other Relatives: Agent Natalie Adrianna Smith (sister), Nina Alicia Smith (sister,) Agent Skye/Daisy Johnson (Aunt), Agent Sarah Campbell (Maternal Cousin), Riley Laurel Coulson (Niece), Director Edward Michael Coulson (Brother-in-law)**

 **Other Important Relations: Agent Jade Elizabeth Rogers (Girlfriend)**

I stared at their pictures as flashbacks came pouring in. I looked at Red, who apparently was just as shocked as me. "I'm your- girlfriend?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, it would explain the kissing and the I-love-you's and all that crap." I said.

"Right. Yeah. Look at your agency history." she said. I did and was shocked at what came up.

 **Age 14: Went through terrigenesis. Gained power to manipulate emotions. Stole Quinjet to find and evacuate Agent J.E. Rogers.**

 **Age 15: Had mind controlled by Charles Martin. Hurt Agent J.E. Rogers.**

 **Age 16: Destroyed Hydra facility in Australia. Gained power to control fire that lay dormant for a year.**

 **Age 17: Travelled to the future. Met future children. Kidnapped by unknown assailants. Realized fire power. Injected with Super Soldier Serum.**

 **Age 18: Joined 4 person team. Found Agent A. Rogers. Found and began rehabilitating Charles Martin. Found Artemis and Apollo Foster. Rescued Jane Foster. Went on solo mission. Went M.I.A. for 2 weeks. Rescued J.A. Rogers. Thought dead. Destroyed Hydra facility in Virginia. Kidnapped by Hydra. Ran away and lived in London for a few days. Infiltrated Hydra exchange. Intercepted Asgardian Weapon. M.I.A. currently.**

We gaped at it. This is a lot of stuff. Yeah sure, not a lot of missions, but for our age it's way too much.

I clicked on the demographics.

 **Age: 18**

 **Date of Birth: 5-5-2025**

 **Height: 6'4"**

 **Weight: 181 lbs.**

 **Eye Color: Brown**

 **Hair Color: Blond**

 **Ethnicity: 37.5% English, 25% Polish, 25% Chinese, 12.5 % German**

 **Religion: None**

 **Organizations Affiliated With: SHIELD, Avengers, Stark Industries**

I was shocked by all this information. I'm part Chinese? I don't look like it. I guess my mom is part Chinese.

She tapped the search bar again and searched Agent Rogers. A few things came up.

 **Agent Aria Rogers**. She looked completely different from Red, blond hair and blue eyes.

 **Captain Steven Grant Rogers.** This guy is the male version of the woman before, Aria. They look to be the same age, but something tells me they're not.

 **Agent Jade Elizabeth Rogers.** That's her.

She clicked on her name, then on known relations.

 **Mother: Agent Natalia Alianova Romanov (Black Widow)**

 **Father: Captain Steven Grant Rogers (Captain America)**

 **Other Relatives: Juliana Amelia Rogers (Sister), Agent Aria Rogers (Sister)**

 **Other Important Relations: Agent Jason Tripplet Smith (Boyfriend)**

She clicked on her Agency history.

 **Age 14: Kidnapped and tortured by Hydra for one month. Gained Telepathy.**

 **Age 15: Hurt by Agent J.T. Smith. Went on Solo Mission. Blew up Hydra base. Punched Former Director .**

 **Age 16: Destroyed Hydra Base in Australia. Gained telekinesis.**

 **Age 17: Went to future. Met future children. Rescue mission for Agent J.T. Smith.**

 **Age 18: Joined 4 person team. Found Agent A. Rogers. Found and began rehabilitating Charles Martin. Found Artemis and Apollo Foster. Rescued Jane Foster. Kidnapped by Hydra. Rescued J. A. Rogers. Blew up Hydra base in Virginia. Attacked Former Director N. Fury. Went into coma for 1 week. Lived in London for a few days. Intercepted Asgardian weapon from Hydra exchange. Currently M.I.A.**

She and I stared at it, shocked. So I was brainwashed, which is why she remembers me attacking her. It still doesn't add up to why I had 'tortured' her. She tapped on her demographics.

 **Age: 18**

 **Date of Birth: 5-5-2025**

 **Height: 5'6"**

 **Weight: 116 lbs.**

 **Eye Color: Green**

 **Hair Color: Red**

 **Ethnicity: 50% Russian, 12.5% English, 25% Swedish, 12.5% Other European Origins. (50% American haha- love, Naomi Stark)** She and I looked confused at the last part. It didn't seem like something that would be in official government papers.

 **Religion: None**

 **Organizations Affiliated With: SHIELD, Avengers, Stark Industries.**

"Well at least now we know who we are." she muttered.

"Right. Still doesn't help much." I said.

"I know." she replied. She put the plane on autopilot and headed to the back.

(NATASHA POV)

I got on the plane finally, only to see all of the females present. I didn't react, just nodded at everyone. "You all know your skill sets. Who wants to take charge?" I asked.

"Why don't you do it?" Simmons asked.

"I don't lead." I replied.

"Fine. Split up into teams of two and spread from here." Pepper said. "Search everywhere. Skye, run facial recognition through every security camera in the area. I'm going to see if they accessed the SHIELD database recently. Then we can track the plane they stole."

"Good thinking." Skye said, grabbing a computer. The rest of us grabbed earpieces and split up into teams. I'm with Agent X now. Sapphire. I trained her, many years ago. I don't quite remember all of it, as Hydra wiped my memories and made it seem as though I had been living and training in the red room my entire life so far. They also made me age a few years, and now I age slow, but not as slow as before.

I don't really have those memories, just what Phil, Melinda, James, Sapphire, Steve, and Nick have told me. Sapphire offered to show me my memories again but I denied. I don't want to remember any of what happened.

To be honest, I don't blame Sapphire for trying to split up Jade and Jason. I would've done the same if I saw the future and saw my son getting hurt because of his best friend, indirectly of course.

I would do anything for my daughters. Anything. I would die for them. So there is no way I was going to wait any longer than I already have to find her. She could be dead for all I know.

And if Jason has hurt her, brainwashed or not, I won't hold it against him. I know what it's like to be brainwashed, especially when you're started to get your memories back. I had Bruce explain it to me one time.

Getting your memories back, after this kind of brainwashing procedure, releases a hormone that causes anger, uncontrollable anger. So if either of them acts on that, well, I don't blame them at all.

(JADE POV)

My dad is Captain America and my mom is Black Widow. I have parents. I have sisters. I sighed and sat back down in the pilot's seat. He looked at me.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"Nowhere. Why? Still keeping an eye on me?" I snapped.

"Yes." he agreed. "You're still my target. Regardless of anything we just found out."

"And you're still mine. Don't think for a second that I'm going to let you get the upper hand in this situation." I said, listening to his thoughts.

" _I love you, you know."_ I heard him say. I grit my teeth. No he doesn't. And I don't love him back. I don't understand why I still have these memories.

It makes me mad. I want to kill him now, genuinely. I don't want to remember these things that make no sense because I hate him. I don't love him. There's no possible way that I used to love him when I have these memories of him torturing me and it doesn't make any sense.

Everything would've been much easier if I didn't hold back. I had so many opportunities and I wasted all of them.

I made a split second decision and aimed my gun at him, pulling the trigger. He ducked and glared at me.

"I thought you said you weren't going to kill me."

"Never said that." I replied, shooting again. He pulled out his gun and started shooting me as well.

"Jade! Jason! Stop!" I heard a voice say.

We didn't stop shooting but I glanced there. It was that Romanov lady. My mom.

"I know none of this makes sense. Just calm down. We can talk this through." she said.

"You're Agent Natalia Alianova Romanov." Jason said, blinking at her confused.

"Natasha. It's Natasha Romanoff." she said. "And besides, you don't call me that. You call me mom, and you call me Aunt Tasha."

"But-" I murmured, confused. The gunshots had stopped.

"I know. I understand you don't know what's happening and you're remembering things that don't make sense. I promise you, we can figure this out." she said.

" _I hate you!"_ I heard myself yelling at her. My expression turned sour.

"No. Leave us alone." I said, closing it.

"Why did you try to kill me?" He asked me.

"Because! I'm angry and you seem the be the source of all my problems. It's only logical to get rid of the source." I said.

"I want you to promise right now. Promise not to attempt to kill me." he said.

"Why? I don't think my word really counts for anything."

"I think it does." he replied.

"Fine. I promise." I agreed after a moment of silence. "Why don't you try and kill me?" I asked.

"Because, it feels like you're important. And by the way, I know you're angry. Im angry too." he said.

We stayed silent, flying the plane. "Where are we going exactly?" I asked.

"I don't know. Safe house?" he replied.

"I think I know a place. In London." I said. "I remember it."

"I think I remember it too." he said.

(TANNER POV)

We loaded up, all except for Elliot, who's apparently not allowed to come because of his bullet wound. Jason had hit him in the stomach, and Dianna had bandaged it up well and given him some pain reliever, but then she had to leave.

"I'm coming. You can't stop me." Elliot said stubbornly.

"Yes, we can. You have a gunshot wound. You heard Dianna. She'll kill you if you leave." I said.

"Seriously? I'll sit on the quinjet. I'll stay on comms. Whatever. I'm not going to sit here and do nothing." he argued.

"Fine. You can stay on comms." Uncle Steve relented. Elliot grinned smugly and did just that.

(JASON POV)

We walked into the apartment and both of us were hit with memories.

Arguments, kisses, oh my god. There's so much and none of it makes any logical sense. We groaned at the same time.

We walked into separate bedrooms and she had claimed the biggest one.

Then suddenly she slammed the door open again and threw a bunch of clothes out.

"They're yours." she said. "Or at least that's what I'm assuming."

"Probably." I agreed, taking them into the room I was staying in. I tried not to think about the fact that we had been sharing a room.

I pulled off my shirt and grabbed the first aid kit that I had grabbed from the plane. I looked at myself in the mirror and winced slightly. I'm bleeding pretty much all over.

I decided to just take a shower first, so I went into the bathroom. I took my shower quickly, as the hot water was stinging all of my open wounds.

I put on pants, but left my shirt off, bandaging myself up.

I attempted to get the giant cut on my back, but I can't see it, so it's a bit difficult.

"Need some help?" I heard Red ask. I'm going to just call her that, not Jade. It feels right, calling her that.

"You realize I could've been naked, right?" I asked.

"Mmhmm. I do realize. Now give me that." she said.

I rolled my eyes and handed the bandages and the alcohol to her. She took care of it quickly, and I would be lying if I said that it didn't feel familiar when she touched my back. It felt _very_ familiar. Too familiar, considering I don't even know her, not really. Then I had a flashback. I was suddenly in a room that didn't look familiar and she was next to me, tracing the scars on my back. I remember deciding to pretend to keep sleeping.

"Thank you." I said.

"No problem." she said. "Jase . . . What do you remember?" she asked.

"Just bits and pieces really." I replied.

"Me too. I have images in my head and I don't know what order they go in." she said, looking very confused and sad. For some reason, it hurts to see her looking like that.

"Yeah." was all I said. I wanted to say something more, but I don't know what I would say.

"I'm going to write down everything I remember. I think it'll help. Then I can put everything in order." she said.

"Let's do it. Right now." I agreed.

"Right now?" she asked.

"You heard me." I replied. She shrugged and grabbed a notebook and two pens. She sat next to me and handed me some paper and a pen.

"Get to it then." she said. I shrugged and did so.

(LATER)

I woke up tiredly, not knowing when I fell asleep or anything, only to see Red asleep basically on top of me. Well this is interesting.

Her head was resting on my stomach, her entire body perpendicular to mine. One of her arms was above her head, that hand resting lightly on the bed. Her other arm was across my chest, her fingers brushing my neck.

I sighed. I can't really get up. But to be honest, I don't really want to.

I mean, what teenage guy, when given the choice, would choose to get up when they have a very pretty girl sleeping on top of them? Not me. Oh yeah, and there's the slight chance that she might kill me at any moment if she's awake. I think we've moved past that though.

Her hair is dark red, like an auburn, except less brown and more of just a true red color. It's strange. It's not ginger either. It's just- red.

She opened her eyes and stared at me blankly, then closed them and went back to sleep, her head still on my stomach. I smiled amusedly.

I noticed all the papers next to us, with the memories we had managed to order. I'm assuming I fell asleep first.

I was thinking for a while before I heard her murmuring in her sleep.

"Stop. I don't know who you are." "No you don't." "You don't know me." "Stop telling me that." she mumbled, repeated things along those lines.

I got up and shook her slightly. "Red. Wake up." I said.

She snapped up, looking at me, her eyes wild with fear before they hardened again.

"I was sleeping. Why didn't you kill me?" she asked.

"I thought we'd moved past this." I replied. "From what we remember, I don't think killing each other would work." I said.

"That's not me. And that's not you either. We're not those people. We don't have their experiences, or their memories, or any of that. I could kill you if I wanted to. But I won't. Not unless you try it first." she replied.

"I'm not going to kill you unless you try first, so I guess we're both going to stay alive." I said.

She nodded. "Let's get food. I haven't eaten in two days." she said.

"We've only been here for one day- so you're remembering."

"Yeah I guess I am." she agreed. She got up and walked into the kitchen, looking exhausted. I followed.

We ate in silence, barely looking at each other. She glanced at the pool.

"I'm going to go swimming." she said, washing her dish and putting it away.

(LATER JULIANA POV)

I walked off the plane nervously. What if she still doesn't remember us? What if she's not there?

I steeled my nerves. My mom doesn't want me come with her, Agent X, and Nat, but she doesn't know me if she thinks I'm going to stay on the plane.

"Juliana, stay here." My mom said.

"No."

"It could be dangerous."

"Jade wouldn't hurt me." I replied.

"But that isn't Jade. She's not our Jade, okay? She doesn't remember you or me or any of us. So right now, she could hurt you. It's a risk I'm not willing to take." she said.

"It's not your choice." I said, walking ahead of her and towards the apartment. I knocked on the door and my mom came up behind me, giving me a look.

Jason opened the door. He glanced at all of us, muttered something, and slammed the door again.

I heard him say something inside and I heard Jade's voice respond. She's alive. Thank god.

Jade opened the door again, and the two of them glared at us. "Leave." she said.

"Jade, do you remember me?" my mom asked.

"Leave." Jason repeated.

"Jason, do you know who we are?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah." he said.

"Then-"

"Go. Away." Jade said.

Then suddenly they both slumped down. I turned back my head and glared at Ria, who shrugged.

"Jade told me to. She told me to shoot when this happened." she said.

"She knew it was going to happen?" I asked.

"Yeah. Come on. Let's take them on the plane." Alana said.

"You knew too?" I demanded.

"Yeah. Jason didn't though. She didn't want him to know. Or more like she couldn't tell him." Alana replied. I rolled my eyes and we took them into the plane and put them in the interrogation room. Those should hold them.

(APOLLO POV)

I looked at my dad and then left. I don't see him much. I used to get really upset, because he just left my mom, Artemis, and I for months on end. We never knew when he would come back and honestly we didn't know if he would come back at all.

I get it now of course. And now were launched into this. I walked into the Hydra compound, shooting lightning at the electrical mainframe. That should shut down everything. Yup.

I heard footsteps coming up here and I just punched them, done with this. I'm 6'6" and I barely fit through the doorframe. How I ended up this tall, I have no idea. Artemis didn't end up this tall. Well, I guess for a girl she's really tall. She's 5'11". Okay, that is really tall. Never mind.

"It's done." I said over the comms.

"We see that." Matthew replied.

"Jeez. No need to give attitude." I said.

"No need to state the obvious." He replied.

"If it's so obvious that you shouldn't give attitude then why'd you do it?" I asked.

"Guys! Stop bickering." I heard Elliot say. "You're giving me a headache."

"Uh we have a slight problem." Johnny said.

"What happened?" Uncle Clint asked immediately.

"Just- you have to come here. _All_ of you." he said.

"Does that mean-" Elliot started.

"Everyone _but_ you." Johnny corrected. Elliot groaned.

I got there first and my jaw dropped. "No freaking way." I muttered. "I knew they wanted them, but not this much."

"What is it?" Uncle Steve asked.

"They're trying to clone Jade and Jason. I mean, I think so, because there are like 50 kids here that look exactly like them at varying ages." I answered.


	25. Secrets revealed

****

**Guys this chapter gave me the feels. The last part in Jade's POV gave me chills and I wanted to cry. Anyway, this chapter is super short, but SUPER DUPER important. Read carefully or you'll be lost in later chapters. This is so intense guys. This plot line has been in the works for a while now, and this ties in everything from previous stories to future chapters to even some things that happen in Agent X's story. I'm so excited for you all to read this! Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

I opened my eyes and groaned. I feel like crap. I saw Jase sitting across the room, at least 20 feet from me, one of his wrists cuffed to the wall next to him. My eyes widened and I glanced at my own wrists. One is cuffed.

Jase had already woken up and was staring at me. My telepathy isn't working. Crap crap crap. Where the hell are we even?

I tested the cuff but Jase interrupted me. "I already tried." he said.

I groaned and slammed my head back, then winced. "Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here? Because I've got nothing." I said, annoyed.

"You didn't even try. But no, I don't have any ideas." he replied.

"How long have you been conscious?" I asked.

"An hour or so." he said. I looked at him.

"Are your powers working?" I asked. He shook his head. "Damn. We're stuck I guess." I muttered.

Then some girl with lots of piercings and turquoise hair walked in.

"Let us out. Now." I said.

"Nope. Not until we find a way to make you guys remember." she replied.

"I do remember." I said, through gritted teeth.

"Not completely. If you remembered you would've known that this room has built in inhibitors and everything in here is made so that you can't get out. We actually updated a part of the designs based on your capabilities." she said.

"Alana, I remember. Just let me out. She doesn't remember completely yet." he said. I glared at him, annoyed.

"You remember my name?" she asked.

"Clearly." he replied. "Listen I can get her to remember. You think you'll be able to do it?" he challenged.

"Well- Tell me some things about yourself." Alana decided.

"My birthday is May 5th. I'm 18 years old. My sister's name is Natalie Adrianna Smith, my mom's name is unknown, except Red knows it and refused to tell me. My dad's name is James Damion Smith. Red and I had our first kiss at the park, when we were six. You were there, you slapped Elliot." he said. As he's saying these things, the memories are flowing back.

"I guess you do remember." she said, pressing a button and his cuffs undid themselves. I stared at him annoyed. But I shouldn't be annoyed.

I'm his target. He's mine. He just got the best of me. I got attached. I thought, you know, we would watch each other's backs in a situation like this. But I guess not.

He's smart. I actually remembered that scene and told him about it, and he used it against me. I glared at him as he left, but when Alana wasn't looking and when he was out of view of the camera, he turned his head. "Just trust me." he mouthed. I blinked once to show I got that message. Then they left.

I don't think I'm getting out of here any time soon. I know he said to trust him, but I can't count on him entirely. I have to do something.

(JAMES POV)

I walked into the room where the clones were and I wanted to run straight out of the room the way I came. There are at least 20 kids that look exactly like Jason did and varying points in his life. And then there are at least 20 that look like Jade. Except some of them- well, I'm guessing the process didn't go as smoothly for them.

These are _kids_. They're in _cages._ Even if they're clones, that doesn't mean they're not real kids, with real brains and real emotions.

There was a Jason clone that looked to be at least 16. He's 18 now, which means that either this clone was aging very fast or Hydra got their hands on his DNA when he was 2.

There was a Jade clone that was a newborn and looked so freakishly like her it's crazy. Outside her cage it said procedure success. That's bad.

A few of them were dead.

We were all speechless. "We have to get them all out of here." Steve said.

"Right." I agreed.

Then Johnny's phone rang. He picked it up.

"What?!" he asked whoever was on the phone. "You let him go? Are you insane? You realize the first thing he's going to do is get her out, right?" he said.

"Sarah-"

"Yeah but-"

"Can I finish my sentence? Thanks. They're not stupid. He probably only remembers bits and pieces and used that to his advantage."

"Yeah. I will. I love you. Bye." He hung up and looked at us. "They found Jade and Jason. So apparently Jade knew all of this was going to happen and told Alana and Ria to shoot them when it happens. So Jason managed to lie his way out of the interrogation room and Jade is still in there now."

"I didn't think he was that smart." Elliot muttered.

"See Elliot, this is why you don't doubt your boyfriend's skills." Tanner said.

I'm not going to ask what that means. I'm pretty sure Jason is 100% straight and dating Jade, but again, not going to ask.

(JASON POV)

I walked into the room were Alana put down the remote. I'm getting Red out of there now and we're going to leave.

"Don't." I heard a voice say from behind me. I turned around and saw Natalie. My sister.

"Don't what?" I asked.

"Don't try to let her out now. She needs to remember first."

"You think she's going to remember while she's sitting in there?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"We know she's not. That's why you have to do it. But we're not going to let you in there with her until we can trust you not to let her out immediately. So the sooner you cooperate, the sooner she can remember and get out of there. And to be honest, we have bigger problems than this at the moment, and we kind of need you to hurry."

"And what makes you think I have to follow your conditions?" I asked.

"If you really care about her you'd know that if she does anything now that she'll regret later, she won't live it down. And we both know you do actually care about her." she said.

And then I was launched into a flashback.

 _I was sitting in a chair, looking at a screen nervously. "Are you sure you want to do this?" A man asked me. I remember him. He's Red's dad. Captain America._

" _Yes." I responded._

" _Well good luck kid. It's not easy to watch." he said, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze and then leaving._

 _My attention turned to the screen. Red was there, cuffed to a chair in the middle of an empty room, with concrete walls and and dim lighting. Her eyes were dull and she wasn't really wearing much. She looked to be younger, probably 14. She was skinny and pale and didn't look like she had eaten anything in a while. She was covered in scars all over, some fresh cuts bleeding out._

 _Someone walked in, a man with stringy brown hair and sadistic grayish green eyes._

" _Are you ready to tell us what we need to know yet?" he asked her._

 _She shook her head and lifted it, glaring at him. "Never." she spat._

" _Don't be so sure." He walked over and smirked. "Do you know what these cuffs are made of? Pure, untarnished, silver."_

 _She looked confused at what that meant. "So? Should I feel special, you spent so much on my freaking handcuffs?" she asked, rolling her eyes._

" _Silver, pure silver, is an excellent conductor of electricity. Even better than copper." He continued, ignoring her statement._

 _Her eyes widened and he pulled out an electric baton, turning it on and resting it against one of her cuffs. It moved throughout the metal chair and onto her body. She grit her teeth and said nothing._

" _Here. This should help." he said, pulling out a syringe and stabbing her arm with it. She yelled in pain and glared at him. He just started the electrocution again. She screamed this time, shrill, bloodcurdling screams escaping._

 _He stopped it. "Tell us about SHIELD." He said. She shook her head defiantly._

 _He grit his teeth and stabbed her leg, causing her to yell in pain again._

" _We're just going to have to take it a step further." he said, then left. She took deep breaths, her chest rising and falling as her body struggled to heal itself with the knife still embedded in her leg. Blood was flowing out of it._

 _She shut her eyes and a single tear fell out of her eyes. Then over 30 different people flooded in the room. They all just stared at her, didn't say anything, but she appeared to be in pain._

 _She was gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes tightly, concentrating. Eventually she started crying, not the lady like crying you see in the movies, but painful crying, mixed with screams of agony. It was painful to watch._

" _Jase-" she said quietly, still crying._

" _I'm right here." Someone said, that looked exactly like me, but was smirking._

" _No. You're not him. You're not him." she repeated to herself over and over again._

"Jason! Jason!" I heard Natalie calling me.

I looked at her. "Sorry."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Uh- I remembered something." I said.

She looked at me skeptically. "What did you remember?" she asked.

"Watching a scene of her torture. This was recently." I said, confused. There was someone there that looked like me.

"Yeah, you might want to sit down." she said. "It's a lot to take in."

"I'm good." I said, shaking my head. I walked out of the room, grabbing the remote subtly and putting it in my pocket.

I walked over to the cell and opened the door, pressed the button and she stood up. "Thanks." she said, rubbing her wrists. I shrugged. I can't get the image of her bleeding and screaming and crying out of my head.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." I lied. She rolled her eyes.

"Liar. Come on. Let's go." she said. How she knows I'm lying is beyond me. As she walked in front of me I saw a scar on her neck peeking out from behind her hair and I internally winced. I don't know why I care.

We walked out and then suddenly Sarah shocked us. I saw the way Red grit her teeth and it looks all too familiar. "Johnny said you would do this." she told us.

"That hurt." I said, still pretending I remember.

"It was supposed to. What are you thinking? She doesn't remember everything! She needs to. She could try to kill you." she said.

"I won't kill him, but the same can't be said for you." Red replied, shouldering past her.

I followed but then suddenly she stopped. She looked at me, her eyes wide. Then she glanced at Sarah.

"Did you ever figure out who kidnapped him last year?" she asked her. Sarah shook her head and flashbacks started flooding me.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"There's a bomb in him. You need to get it out. Where's Dianna? And Naomi? And Aunt Jemma and Aunt Betty and- do something!" she said as Sarah was standing there.

"What the hell do you mean there's a bomb in him?" Sarah asked.

"I mean, the people who kidnapped him were hired by Hydra to implant the bomb in him. That's why they did such damage, because they needed him unconscious. They told me about it, a few months ago. The bomb in him will kill anyone within a five mile radius of it blows. Hydra has a master plan." she said quickly.

"Why wouldn't you tell us this? Did he know?" Sarah asked.

I'm struggling currently. These are painful memories. "No he didn't. Hydra played us perfectly. I was trapped and didn't have a choice. They told me a part of their plan and I saw the rest of it unfolding in visions. Their plan is good. They know how predictable we are. They knew that if I told you guys everything you would split up and have some people take the bomb out of him and others take down hydra. And I knew that too, but then they would- agh you know what, we don't have time for this. Just get the bomb out of him." she said.

I can't breathe. The memories- they're too much. I can't do this. "Hey. Breathe. Focus. You're going to be fine." Red told me.

I looked at her. "There's a bomb in me. How am I going to be _fine_?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "There are five geniuses on board. They'll figure something out." she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. Then she called some people and hd a video connection up.

"Listen up. There's a lot to catch you all up on. Alana and Ria each know parts of it, but neither know the entirety. Sarah knows a part of it, and now you all at the Hub do as well." she said. "So here's the deal. He was kidnapped a year ago. While he was there, they put and bomb in him. That's why they tortured him so heavily, because they needed him to go unconscious."

"There's a bomb in him?!" Natalie asked.

"Yes. They are affiliated with Hydra but didn't know the entirety of my abilities because Hydra wanted me to find him. They wanted us to bring him home. They worked it all out. They needed us to find the weapon so that we would know that Hydra is infiltrating SHIELD, so they had Thomas send the text-"

"Thomas isn't Hydra." Sarah interjected.

"We have to bring him in anyway. SO as I was saying. Thomas sent us that text, knowing we would go for it. The next step was to get us brainwashed. They didn't even need us to kill each other, they just needed to divert your attention to split you up. The clones are there because they can't beat Jason and I. The clones have the same abilities but are ruthless. They don't have attachments or cares. Jase and I both have bombs in us, and if they have that leverage over us, there's nothing we can do. And they also know that none of you are going to let us die. But you guys don't need me to beat them. So here's what you have to do. First you find a foolproof way to get out and neutralize the bomb in Jase. Then you drop me off somewhere far away with nothing around within a five mile radius. After that, you get the bomb out of him. The minute it's out of him, they'll be notified and the bomb in me will blow. You'll have about a 45 second window to nullify it before his blows as well. This way, you can take down Hydra and the only loss will be me." she said.

"That's so stupid." I told her. She looked at me.

"I'm not stupid. I'm doing what has to be done. I accepted it a while ago." she said nonchalantly.

"How did you know their plan?" Matthew asked.

"They told me." Red answered.  
"And why would they do that?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Because, they needed me to do what I'm about to do. I'm really sorry. If I don't do it in the next 2 minutes they'll blow us up and kill everyone here and everyone below us is in danger of falling plane parts." she said.

"Do what?" Steve asked.

"I'm really truly sorry." she whispered, and then she plunged a needle into Alana. She screamed loudly and Elliot looked ready to jump through the screen and strangle her.

Stone was slowly encasing her and all I could see her eyes wide in panic. What was happening looked so familiar, and then I realized. I've been through that. And that's when all the memories flowed in. Everything pummelling me down all at once. And then the stones broke everywhere and the room got very cold.

"What- what did you do to me?" she asked shakily. "WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?" she shouted. Red winced.

"You're kind of inhuman. Well not kind of. You are inhuman. 50%." she said quietly. Alana looked at her parents.

"Care to explain this?" she asked.

"I'm inhuman, Alana, Elliot. Except my powers, we got rid of them, because I almost died as a result of it. I had a different personality, Lash. It wasn't pretty. We decided you didn't need to know." Uncle Andrew asked.

"Seriously dad? Mom? You didn't think this was just a little important?" Elliot asked, clearly pissed off.

"We know it's more than a little important. That's why we didn't tell you." Aunt Mel said.

"To be fair, I think we should try and solve this problem now and you can have your family therapy session later." Naomi said.

"I think- I can make things cold?" Alana said, looking at her hands that had frosted over.

"You can control ice. It's the reason your eyes are blue." Red explained.

"Are you sure you're not Hydra, Jade?" Elliot asked.

"I know you're mad. I would be too. But don't make unreasonable accusations." Red answered.

I grit my teeth. "I think it's a perfectly reasonable accusation." She looked at me, pained. I don't think I meant it, but to be fair, this is kind of a big thing to be hiding. "How long have you been hiding all this for?" I asked.

"I knew about the bomb in me and parts of their plan for 4 years. The other stuff I found out last year, before we joined the team. They didn't tell me everything, some stuff I picked their brains for. I didn't have any other options and if I told you any sooner you guys would've tried to solve the problem and there's no other feasible solution except the one I offered. If you don't do what I suggested, as Hydra is expecting, we all die. Hydra wins. The world falls into the hands of a bunch of Nazis." she said.

"So you're just ready to die? Just like that?" Natasha asked, her voice cool.

"Yeah." Red replied quietly, looking her in the eyes.

"Okay then." Tanner said, shrugging. "Let's go with your plan."

"That's funny, really. You're so willing to let her get killed. She was doing what she had to in order to keep us alive and safe. And Jason? Why aren't you saying anything?" Juliana demanded.

"Maybe because I agree. It is the best plan of action." I said coldly. Red looked at me slightly surprised and hurt, but didn't let it show on her face. Whatever. She's been lying for so long about all this. Why can't she just be straight up and honest? I'm finally starting to get her. When she pulls away, when she cries for seemingly no reason, when she just plain doesn't care. It's because she's already resigned herself to the fact that her life is already over and she doesn't need to do anything except execute the plan anymore. She already made up her mind without letting anyone else know.

"This isn't just about you, you know. Everything you do affects the rest of us. Most of the time, negatively." Alana said. "You could've at least asked our opinion."

"It's not your life. It's not your mistakes and your inability to find a solution. So I'd say that this time, it is all about me, and I'd also say that your opinion doesn't matter because I made my mind up a long time ago." she said, and then she walked out.

"We're coming back to the bus now." Elliot said.

"Okay." I agreed.

(JADE POV)

I don't care that they don't care. I don't care. It's better this way. I do not care. This wipes out the red in my ledger anyway. It's all going to be fine.

"If you're doing this so you can erase the bad you think you've done, it's not going to work." my mom said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because I've been there before." she said, and then she left. I locked the door and stared at the wall. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.

They shouldn't care what happens to me. I'm a bad person. I deserve to die in the most undignified way. I deserve to die now. Otherwise, in a month, I would get pregnant, and god knows those kids don't deserve a mother like me.

I don't deserve Jase. Finally he realizes it. He realizes that being with me is dangerous. He realizes that I'm not worth it. It's fine. It's okay. I don't care. I do not care. I do not care. It's a mantra inside my head.

My parents said nothing, but I didn't expect them to. I'm probably a failure to them.

Elliot looks like he wants to kill me. Maybe he could, and then they could ditch my body somewhere for the bomb to blow.

Alana now has powers that she didn't ask for.

Juliana looks sad and conflicted, like even if she disagreed, nobody would listen. And they won't. They're blinded by hate against me. And that's how it should be. I'm not a good person. I don't care that they ate me.

Sarah has a secret she hasn't told anybody, and when she does, nobody is going to be mad about it. Not for long anyway.

Dianna can't process what's happening, and for once she doesn't have an answer or a solution. But she doesn't need another one. Mine works fine for her.

Jase is okay with me dying. He won't be in pain when I leave. And that's how I want it to be. He dealt with all this for 18 years. Now he won't feel anything other than relief and maybe freedom when I'm dead and gone. I don't care. I don't care. He doesn't care, and I don't care about that. I'm happy about it. I don't care.

I will always love him, but it's good that he moved past this. He deserves better. A single tear slipped out of my eye, and before I had the chance to change my mind, I shot.


	26. Pain

**Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the long wait! I haven't had access to a computer for a while, but I was still writing on my phone, so I have 3 chapters done for you now! I'll post them all today to make up for that. Anyway, enjoy! :)**

(JULIANA POV)

I hear a gunshot and ran towards the sound. I got there and kicked down the door. What I saw made my eyes widen. Jade was on the floor, a bullet in her head, dead. She's dead.

I checked for a pulse but there's nothing. There's nothing there. She's gone. She's cold and pale and looks lifeless. She is lifeless.

I saw Jason out of the corner of my eye, looking horrified, and I couldn't take it anymore. I ran at him, punching him hard. I punched him again, and again. He didn't even try to fight back.

"This is your fault! She would've listened to you!" I yelled. I held him against the wall, but he didn't care. Good. If he did care, I might feel a little bad. Not bad enough to make me stop though.

"Juliana, stop." I heard, a hand on my shoulder. It was my dad.

"No! This is your fault too." I said loudly, angrily. I know it's not. But I don't care. She's gone. She just killed herself.

He wrapped his arms around me and I fought. I don't want to be near these people. I can't believe it.

Eventually I stopped fighting it, just crying, sobbing even, because she's gone and she's not coming back this time and nobody else even cares.

"It's going to be okay." he said.

"No it's not. She's dead!" I said. I pulled away and looked at her.

The gun was still in her limp hand, fingers curled slightly. Her eyes were open and glazed over. Her lips were parted but she wasn't moving. There was a bloody spot on her forehead, giant, blood gushing out of it. I saw Jason, who was frozen, staring at her. He hadn't moved.

Everyone else came in and when they saw Jade their eyes widened. "I hate all of you. I can't believe you would just let this happen. And now, instead of getting the bomb out of her so we can at least bury her, you're going to let her blow up somewhere where we can't even see her." I said, and then I left.

(JASON POV)

She's gone. She's dead. And Juliana is right, it is my fault. Maybe she would've listened to me. She probably knew, because she always knows, that I didn't mean any of what I said.

She probably did know, and that's why she did what she did. She killed herself because she didn't want to be there when I came to my senses and stopped being an idiot.

So it is my fault. I should've known. I should've pushed harder. I should've tried harder to figure out what she was hiding. She's known she was going to die. She was planning her own death.

Since she was 14, she knew there was a bomb in her, and she could've ended it multiple times. It's why she pushed me away so much. It's why she didn't want people around her.

It's why she tried leaving back in London. She tried leaving because she didn't want to hurt anybody. I don't know if what she did was selfish or selfless.

I don't know if I should be angry or sad or both. I don't know.

She's actually dead. There's no chance of her coming back. None at all. She's gone. Dead.

For so long, she hid it all. And now it's finally out in the open. And then she killed herself. Why? Because her purpose was served? Is that what she was thinking? Probably.

I hate this. I hate that my last words that she heard were me agreeing to her letting herself die. I hate myself.

It is my fault. There's nothing I can do about it. More than its on anyone else, it's on me. Because I could've found out what she was hiding. I could've connected the dots. I could've stayed on her side after she told everyone. I didn't have to be an idiot.

I should've done something to prevent this. One time Nat asked me if I would always follow Red. I said yes. I'm such a damn liar.

(NATASHA POV)

She's really dead. It's my fault. It's my fault, she would never have been such a target if I wasn't her mother. If I had stayed close to her, I could've done something.

I should've said something more to convince her. I know why she did it. Among other reasons, she decided it would make up for the red in her ledger.

I tried it once. It's stupid. It doesn't work and it just results in more bad. Now she's dead.

To be quite honest, she wasn't ever supposed to be born. The red room sterilized me. I wasn't supposed to be able to have a child, much less two. Then we found out that the sterilization was another fake memory they gave me. They made it seem like they did that so I would have no hesitation and integrated birth control with my food.

When she was born, it was the happiest and scariest moment of my life. She had the biggest green eyes. I wondered what my mother thought, when she first saw me. She probably didn't guess that the KGB would take an interest in me and take me from her. I didn't know what would happen to Jade, but I had expected the worst.

Or, I thought I did. I didn't see her killing herself to avoid us trying to change her decision. I didn't see her killing herself in an attempt to right her 'wrongs'. I didn't expect her to hide something like this. I didn't expect her to shoot herself.

Seeing her now, the gun still in her pale hand, makes me want to kill. I want to kill whoever caused this. But it's me, I'm the one that caused this, and killing myself will only serve to ratify Jade's misfortune.

I only just noticed how skinny she had become. She's basically skin, bones, and muscles now. Her hands are thin and she looks smaller than ever.

Her mouth is still open from when she took her final breath. She always had Steve's facial expressions. My face, his expressions. She used to do that little half smirk that he always does. And now I'll never see that again.

(STEVE POV)

I've had people die before. Peggy, Bucky, Howard, and so many others. People I cared about, people I loved. But none of their deaths hurt as much as this.

Why she did that? It's clear. She felt like she failed. She felt she had failed all of us, but she didn't. She thought she had failed every single one of us, and she didn't realize that we all have made huge mistakes. It makes us who we are.

But she knew that. She had to have, she could read minds. But she probably also heard everyone's doubt about her. Everyone's thoughts contributed to her fear.

She was afraid. She was afraid of messing up. She was afraid of hurting the people she cared about. She was afraid. Was.

Maybe it's selfish of me to wish she was back here. She wasn't happy. Maybe temporarily, maybe superficially, but not as a whole. She wasn't a happy person.

She was guilty, and sad, and angry all the time and no matter what we did nothing helped. She thought she had to atone for something.

The feeling when I first held her in my arms was surreal. I never imagined having a child. Back in the 40s, maybe it could've happened, after the war was over, but it wasn't something I was thinking about a lot. When I got out of the ice, I didn't fit in. I didn't think I would ever find anyone.

And then Natasha came along, and I didn't think we would be able to have kids. I was fine with that of course, but that's just the way it was. I didn't expect her to get pregnant and I didn't expect everything to go smoothly.

And when it did, I didn't expect Jade to go through everything she did, and I didn't expect her to kill herself at the age of 18. I didn't expect her to be such a target and I should've.

It never sunk in, how much she'd been through, not until now. It was enough for her to feel alone enough to kill herself.

She didn't kill herself because of the loneliness. That much I know. She felt alone enough that nobody would care, nobody would miss her. That's how I felt, when I first got out of the ice. I figured nobody would care if I died in battle, not enough to mourn anyway. So I threw caution to the wind, fighting in whatever way I had to, not bothering to plan.

Phil thought it was impulsiveness, that I myself was thinking I was immortal. It was anything but, I knew how dangerous the world could be, I knew how _mortal_ I am. I crashed into icy cold waters and thought I had died only to wake up. I was more than aware of my mortality.

No it wasn't that. It was the idea that my dying wouldn't affect anyone other than me, and I understand now how wrong I was. I got lucky. Jade didn't. She gave in to those feelings, on top of other things.

Really she was put in an impossible position to make an impossible decision. She still has a bomb in her. And as much as I hate to even think it, there's nothing we can do at this point.

They can try to figure something out, the science people I mean, but it's most likely futile. I know that. Natasha knows it. Juliana knows it, and Jason knows it too.

I can understand why he said the things he did. He had just gotten his memory back and then she dropped that on him. And really, I can't fault him.

"Listen. It's not your fault Natasha. It's not your fault either Steve, nor yours Juliana, nor is it yours Jason. It's not your fault or my fault and I understand you feel guilty but we need to find another way to solve the problem without blowing her up." May said, always the voice of reason.

"She's right. We need to get to work." Naomi said.

"Of course you all would say that. You don't even care." Juliana said coldly.

"We do care. We just-"

"Yeah, okay." Jason muttered sarcastically, staring at the floor.

"As if you're one to talk." Juliana said to him.

"Good point." he agreed quietly.

I gave Juliana a look. She shouldn't be rude to him. I understand what he did and why he did it, that isn't to say I don't wish he hadn't said what he said, but I understand.

"It wasn't your fault Jason." Elliot said.

Jason looked up, his eyes dark and cold. "It was all of our fault. Every single one of us. Including you." he replied. "And it's not like you feel anything because of her _killing_ herself."

"Do you? Because you don't seem like someone who's mourning." Juliana snapped.

"Neither do you, but even though you said nothing to dissuade her from letting herself get blown up, nobody doubts that you care because you're her sister." he said.

"At least I didn't encourage the idea." she replied. They glared at each other. Jason glanced at her body, the pain clear in his eyes, until his eyes widened.

"Damn it she's smart." he muttered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That's a clone. I can still feel her emotions. And there's more. Look, that gunshot wound? Jade's had faded a while ago. And I'm betting that's fake anyway." he said, stepping up to the body and pointing to the scar peeking out from underneath her shirt.

"How do you know it's fake?" I asked.

"Her scars don't show up that dark usually." he said nonchalantly, as if that's something totally normal to know. I'm not going to ask why he knows that, although

I have a decent idea.

"But Jade of all people knows that so why did she mess up?" Alana asked.

"Because she was in a hurry." Jason replied.

"Well, look. It's been the real her up until she shot the clone. Look at the angle of the shot. There's no way that could have been self inflicted." Robert pitched in, catching on.

"But why go through all this trouble?" Jack asked.

"Because she's going somewhere so remote we'll never find her. She's going to go somewhere where we can't find her so when we take the bomb out of Jason she won't hurt anybody." Sarah said.

"She's so stubborn." I muttered.

Then Jason walked out of the room. After a few seconds I followed him, making sure I stayed a safe distance behind him.

"Hey Red." he said over the phone.

"How did you know-"

"Please. Even you make mistakes."

"What?"

"The gunshot wound. Yours had gone away, the clone still had it." he said, sounding thoroughly pissed off.

"Well, I figured nobody would care, so I could just pretend to have died and nobody would hesitate to get the bomb out of you." she said, not sounding bitter.

"How can you-" he started.

"Because Jase, as long as that bomb is in you, Hydra has the upper hand. You don't need me to beat them. You honestly can't say that you're going to be broken up over it either. I hid all that for years. I wouldn't be surprised if you never trusted me again." she said.

"I knew you were hiding something. I didn't know what. It makes sense now, you know. And if you had told someone we would've had more time to find a solution." he said.

"Oh come on. You know that everyone would be their normal optimistic selves and not face facts and hope for another miracle. People can only be so lucky." she replied.

"You're still on the plane." he said, out of nowhere.

"No I'm not." she replied.

"Don't lie to me." he said, leaving the room, and following some trail. "Even if I didn't know you so well, I can find your location with your emotions. Which, by the way, are crazy right now."

"No really?" she replied dryly. I followed him as he followed her. He walked into a room I had never seen before on this plane. I stayed a safe distance behind but angled it so I could see them. He looked at her with his arms crossed.

"Not on the plane, huh?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Nope." she said, but I couldn't see her. All I heard is a gust of wind and Jason groaning irritatedly. I moved around the corner, not caring if he saw me, and saw him take off after her. She was somehow flying through the air and he was using his fire to keep aloft as well. He quickly caught up to her.

Seeing her alive made me feel happy and relieved and angry all at once. Of course I'm happy she's alive. But at the same time, she was willing to make us all believe she was dead.

I struggled forward towards the open door of the plane and shut it, sighing in relief when it was closed.

(JADE POV)

Why won't he leave me alone. This should have been easier. I should've been able to just leave without anyone suspecting me being alive. They could've buried that clone when it didn't blow and it would have satisfied everyone.

He shouldn't care. He shouldn't freaking care. Why does he care? Can't he just let me die?

No, of course he can't, he won't. I'm stupid if I think he will. He would let himself die before me because that's the kind of selfless idiot he is. I was deluding myself trying to think that he wouldn't care. That he doesn't care, because he does.

He does care and I don't want him to. I want him to be happy and I'm not a happy person and I can't make him happy.

I still love him. Damn it, of course I do. Losing my memory didn't change that. Trying to kill him didn't change that. And he still loves me, so why did I think that me hiding all this would change that?

It wouldn't change anything for me and I know logically it didn't change anything for him.

"Red, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, looking pissed beyond compare.

"I'm trying to stay away from you." I said.

"Why?" he asked, the irritation draining from his face.

"Because you make it too difficult to do what I have to do."

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to do any of this." he said.

"Can't you understand that I do? I love you Jase, I really do, but I'm not good for you. I've been hiding this for years. Aren't you mad at me for that? You should be. You should be pissed. You should be angry and you shouldn't care whether I die or not." I said.

"Yeah? Tell me, do you honestly think that this would change anything? Everyone has their secrets. I was mad before, but that was just shock. You did what you thought was best, even though hiding it wasn't a good choice, it's not the worst choice you could've made." he said.

"I don't get it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not a good person. You are. You deserve someone better than me, someone good. It's not worth it to stick around." I said.

"I'm going to ignore that. We can figure this out." he said.

I scoffed. "No we can't. What are we supposed to do, the minute either of get the bomb removed the other will blow. I've explained this to you." I said.

"So you're going to give up." he said.

"I know what you're doing." I muttered.

"And I know what you're doing too. You're giving up." he stated.

"I'm not _giving up._ I'm implementing a solution." I said.

"And not trying to find anything else. So giving up." he said.

My eye twitched in annoyance. "That won't work." I said.

"Well, you give up on other things so why won't you give up this time?" he taunted.

"I'm not giving up!" I protested.

"Yes you are." He said.

"No. I'm not."

"Prove it. Come back to the plane." he said.

"Fine." I spat. He smirked and it dawned on me that he just manipulated me like a pro.

But we were already back at the plane, as while he was trying to get a rise out of me he had managed to draw me towards the plane. He's smart.

I walked on the plane and nobody was there except Juliana, who narrowed her eyes at me. "You made me think you were _dead_." she said.

"It would have been for the best, if he hadn't been so stubborn." I said.

"Oh I'm the stubborn one?" he asked, facing me.

"You could have just let me do what I had to do." I replied, turning so I was facing him.

"Yeah, because I would totally just let you go kill yourself over something stupid." he said sarcastically. Juliana scoffed and left.

"So the bomb in you is stupid."

"There's a bomb in you too." he said.

"But I don't matter. I'm not important." I said quietly but coldly, our faces now inches apart so I have to look up.

"Do you really think that nobody would care or are you just telling yourself that?" he asked, looking me in the eyes.

I stared at him. "Do you want me to punch you?" I asked.

"Go for it." he said, smirking. I don't what he thinks he's doing, but all he's succeeding in doing is making me pissed- oh. Of course.

I took a deep breath. "You're infuriating, you know that?" I asked. He shook his head.

"You're being irrational. Nobody here wants you to die." he said.

"Maybe not, but if they had to choose between you dying or me dying, they would choose me. They would just pretend it was a difficult decision. So I'll save them the effort." I said.

"I'd rather make it out of this with both of us alive. And honestly, do you think that I would just move on? Do you really think so little of me?" he asked quietly.

"No. I know it would be hard for you. But you would move on eventually." I mumbled.

"No I wouldn't. And you know that." he said.

I didn't answer. I don't know what to say. He won't accept the fact that there is no other solution that doesn't involve somebody else dying. I've been thinking this over for a year, I've thought of every possible option available and nothing else will work.

"You're not dying on me. Okay? Not now, not until we're old and have already lived our lives." He said. I met his eyes.

"I'm sorry. But- what else can I do?" I asked. I had finally come to terms with the fact that I'm going to die, and he's undoing all of that with just one conversation. _This_ is why I didn't tell him.

"Well, for starters, you can let everyone else try to find another solution. You don't have to figure it out by yourself." he said.

"No. That's exactly why I didn't tell anybody." I said, frustrated that he's not getting it but admiring the fact that he's so optimistic. It's one of the many reasons I love him so much.

"And your reasoning was _wrong._ Let them help. Let us help." he said.

"Fine." I relented, tired of arguing with him. "How can you not be mad at me?" I asked quietly.

"Because Red, I love you. You making a mistake doesn't change that." he replied. I hugged him tightly, and he hugged me back. I started crying lightly and he just held me.

I could laugh at the melancholy of this situation. In a day, I will be dead. I will be obliterated into little pieces and be wherever the dead go after passing. I'm not sure if it will be heaven or hell, or if either of those exist. I don't really have religious beliefs, but I'm open to the the idea. Heaven sounds really nice right now.

But heaven wouldn't be heaven without Jase with me.

"I love you so much." I told him.

"Then don't get killed." he murmured against my hair.

And in that moment, with his arms around me and feeling so warm and safe, my resolve crumbled. "Okay." I whispered.


	27. When Our World Came Crashing Down

**Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating in so long but I haven't had access to a computer for so long and I was in India for a month but I got back two days ago and here's an extra long chapter that was meant to be three chapters. I just realized I can update on my phone. I've been writing on the google docs app but I thought you could only update from a computer. Anyway, here you go, I hope you enjoy! I'm super super excited about this, a lot of angst and drama because that's what I write best and I'm not good at fighting scenes so there's that. There's a few new characters in here that I have a backstory coming out for soon, that's almost completely done. It's just a one chapter story that's over 10k words so far. Anyway, I'll shut up now. :)**

(ELLIOT POV)

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this situation. I kind of want to strangle Jade, for giving Alana powers, for hiding this, for pretending to die, for killing a person, whether it be a clone or not, and so many more things.

But at the same time, I kind of understand the impossible situation Hydra put her in. I also understand that we will need her to take down Hydra, otherwise they wouldn't have put so much effort into neutralizing her as a threat.

And Jason shot me. He was under mind control, but it still hurts like hell. Literally, my stomach feels like it's on fire. If they hadn't bandaged me up right away, then I probably would have been stuck on bed rest or something. Not to mention I have a overprotective girlfriend who happens to be a medical genius and won't let me do anything.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked me.

"Yeah. I was just thinking. Are you okay?" I asked in return.

"You asked me that a minute ago. And I told you, I'm fine." she said.

"Are you really?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. I think these powers are cool. They're just . . . Weird. And I don't want to hurt anyone on accident." she said.

"We'll figure it out. No problem. Just don't turn me into an icicle?"

"Awww fine." she said, smirking. "I was really looking forward to that." she said.

"You're so mean." I replied.

"So that's why my eyes are blue." she said, pondering it. "But I didn't have my powers yet." I didn't question the sudden topic change. She's even more ADHD than I am, and that's saying something.

"It's weird. But it's not that bad. I mean, you could have had a worse power. And what was dad's power?" I wondered.

"I'm not sure. I can't believe they didn't tell us." she said.

"Me neither. They should've known this might happen eventually. They probably knew it's why you had blue eyes." I said.

"Yeah." she murmured.

(MATTHEW POV)

I knew these people had messed up lives, but man. Jade's been hiding all this for years. I can kind of respect that. To be honest, I can respect the fact that she would rather let herself die than let everyone else die trying to save her.

I can respect the fact that she doesn't want the people she loves to die, because I've been through that. And it sucks.

If I was her, I would've thought that was the best plan of action too, and would've down what she did. Although, that plan was very elaborate, and to be fair, she could've given hints or made it obvious that Hydra was infiltrating. And how would Hydra know that she told anyone the plan unless- oh no.

"Uh Uncle Steve we might have a problem." I said.

"What now?" he asked.

"I think there's a Hydra spy here." I said.

"Crap. Where's Jade and Jason? Jade would know if anyone's a spy." Sarah said.

"But what if Jade is the spy?" Tanner asked.

I looked at him. "Dude, I know you're pissed, but-"

"I don't think you do know, Matthew. What if she hadn't been inhuman? She could have died." he said angrily. "Do you even-"

"Yeah, I do get it. Bridget did die remember? And then I though she came back, only for her to actually be their daughter from the future." I said, annoyed.

"Guys, calm down. Tanner has a point though. Who else could it be? If it was anyone else Jade would know and tell us." Uncle Tony said.

"Hold on a second-" Uncle Steve started.

"No, they're right." Jade interrupted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "They're right dad, and you know it. You shouldn't trust me. This is why you should've let me go through with my plan." she said, glaring pointedly at Jason who walked in after her.

"We already had this conversation." Jason told her. She sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Hydra's master plan was to brainwash me using the serum that gave me my telepathy when they kidnapped Jase and I a few months ago. They didn't expect his new abilities which is why they couldn't. They wanted us with no memories to distract us and you guys. They wanted me to tell you their plan to make you lose focus. Do what you want to me, throw me in a cell if you want, I don't care. Just take down Hydra first. And before you can do that, you have to get the bomb out of him." she said.

"You have a bomb in you too-" Jason started.

"I know. And I don't care. It's for the better of I just blow up and none of you ever have to see me again." she said, looking at him.

"No it's not. Do you really think that we can do this without you? Why else would Hydra out so much effort into getting you under their control or dead?" he asked.

"Because, it's part of a plan." she said frustratedly.

"You know what, you two need to work out your problems before we can get anything else done." Naomi decided.

"We don't have problems." They both said in unison, then turned to give each other looks.

"Stop that." They both said at the same time. Their lips twitched and they were clearly trying not to smile.

"Go be cute in there." Naomi said, pushing them into a closet and locking the door. When we looked at her questioningly and she shrugged.

"It works. I should be a marriage counselor." she said.

"Uh, they're not married." Tanner said.

"Might as well be. I don't know what happened. It's been a few days since they've kissed or done any PDA. Do you know how rare that is?" she said. "And they're constantly glaring at each other but they're both trying to do what's best for each other because they're so madly in love. Idiots."

"There is a simpler solution." Robert said hesitantly, glancing at Naomi, who nodded. We looked at him. "It might not work. It'll be very risky and could result in both of them dying and the bombs blowing up and killing all of us." he said.

"Well that's reassuring." Apollo muttered. Artemis glared at him.

"Do you have a better idea?" Naomi asked.

"Well, Naomi has a way to neutralize the bombs without Hydra being notified. And then I have a way to get it out of them without damaging anything. But it's very dangerous. And it involves Nina." he said. Everyone looked at them like they're crazy.

"Nina? The one year old Nina?" I asked, skeptical.

"Yes. Nina will have the ability to control metals. Again, it's very risky, but if we can somehow get a sample of her DNA, and expose it to terrigen gas, we might be able to replicate her powers. Someone would have to receive it though." Robert said.

"So Nina won't get hurt." Uncle James asked. This must be difficult for them. Risk the safety of one child for the safety of another.

"No. I don't think so-" Naomi started.

"Thinking so isn't good enough. Are you 100% sure?" Agent X cut off.

"We can't be. We don't know enough about inhuman biology even now. Like, will the recipient have to be inhuman? Would they even receive the same powers? Does each inhuman have different changes that occur based on their powers or are they individual. Would two telepaths have the same DNA morphosis? Would somebody injected with it take other traits of Nina as well? Or will your immune system get rid of that? If the recipient is inhuman, will they get covered in stone? Would they also have to be female? What about-" Naomi rambled.

"We get it." Tanner interrupted.

"So yeah, we're pretty sure, but really all we're doing is extracting DNA, so there shouldn't be a problem there." Robert said.

The two adults looked at each other. "Fine. But she better not get hurt." They said. "And tell us how exactly you plan to use her powers to get rid of the bombs. And who will get the powers?"

"Well, as for who, we were thinking of one person who doesn't have powers but may be inhuman. We'll have to see, as there's a chance-"

"No. You are not putting Elliot through terrigenesis." Aunt Mel interrupted.

"Mom-" Elliot started.

"No." She interrupted.

"Mom! Who else could do it? Nat, Jason, Jade, Sarah, and Alana already have powers. Is there another option?" he asked.

"Well, Natalie might have the capacity for two powers as Jason does. Also, the injection is separate from your regular powers, and she's Nina's sister, so that might be better, but she also has Riley, so if anything goes wrong-" Robert said.

"Yeah, that would be bad." Elliot agreed. "I'll just do it. No big deal." he said.

"But he has a bullet wound that isn't healed. Would that affect anything?" Dianna interrupted.

Elliot looked at her exasperated and she gave him a look in return. "Do you have to do that?" he asked.

She smiled. "It's my job." she said. He groaned.

"It won't affect anything. I had a bullet wound when I went through terrigenesis." Aunt Skye said.

"See?" Elliot said to Dianna. She shrugged.

"Like I said, it's my job to worry about you. You don't worry about yourself." she said.

"Are you calling me reckless?" he asked, smiling slightly.

"Well . . . Yes." she said.

"I am not reckless." he protested. Alana started coughing loudly and excessively. "Hey! You two are so mean to me." he said.

"That's what you get for dating my best friend." Alana said, sticking her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue out back at her. Alana came over to Dianna and put her arm around her. "I'm your favorite sibling? Right?" she asked.

"I'd rather not answer that." Dianna replied, looking between the two.

"So I'm the favorite sibling." Elliot said.

"She didn't say that." Alana replied. "But anyway, it's me. She just doesn't want to offend you."

"Um- uh, I'm going to the lab." Dianna said. She pulled away from Alana and Elliot stopped her, grabbing her arms.

"I am your favorite though, right?" Elliot asked her.

Dianna looked at him. "I'm not going to answer that." she repeated.

"Oh come on. I have to be your favorite. Alana's so rude." he said.

"Hey!" Alana protested. "Elliot, you can't change her opinion. She clearly likes me better. You're . . . Gross." she said.

"Excuse you." Elliot replied. "And anyway, I'm your boyfriend. I deal with your weird obsession with science and all that too." he said.

Dianna rolled her eyes. "It's not weird." she said.

"Uh Di? It is kind of weird." Alana told her.

"You know what? Sarah's my favorite. Forget you two." Dianna said, smirking at their shocked faces.

"Of course. I knew it. You're cheating on me with Sarah?" Elliot joked.

"Oh please, you're cheating on me with Jason anyway." Dianna said.

"Wait what?" Sarah asked, confused.

"I don't understand. There's a simple answer to all this. I'm everyone's favorite." Naomi said nonchalantly.

"Uh no." Tanner replied.

"What? I'm not your favorite?" Naomi asked.

"Of course not." he said.

"Come on Tanner. You love her even if you try to deny it. You have to. She's your twin. Your other half. You're basically the same person." Alana said.

"Do you want to let those two out of there?" Johnny asked suddenly, gesturing to the tiny closet.

(JASON POV)

This closet is so tiny. Even if Red wasn't here I would still be cramped. Why we let Naomi shove us in a closet is beyond me.

Red's not looking at me, not talking to me, none of that. I honestly don't understand her right now. One minute she's fine and the next she's back to being stubborn.

"I'm being stubborn, but you're being stubborn too." she told me.

"Yeah? Well I'm being stubborn because I don't want you to die." I said.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm being stubborn because I don't want you to die." she said.

"There are other ways to do that."

"How?" she demanded. "You don't know. Of course you don't, there's no other way. I've been thinking about this for long enough to rule out anything else. One of us has to die and it's not going to be you." she said.

"Stop being closed minded. Just let everyone help find another solution." I said.

She opened her mouth to re lot but suddenly she stopped cold. She just froze. Then she looked at me. "I'm not going to die." she whispered.

"Yeah." I responded sarcastically. "That's what I've been trying to say."

"No, like, I just had another vision. But Aria- oh god. No no no no no no. We need to find Thomas Ward." she muttered. She's not making sense.

"What?" I asked.

"Thomas Ward. We have to- we have to find him." she muttered again, testing the door. It didn't open. She kicked it and it still didn't open.

"Red, it won't open." I said.

She sighed and leaned against the door. "Well we can't exactly get anything done while we're here." she said.

I shrugged. I didn't plan on it either. I trust them to find a solution. She doesn't.

"Aria and Johnny are both going to be about to die. Thomas will save Johnny and I'll save Aria, except, Thomas is going to die." she said quietly.

"Why will they be in danger?" I asked.

"Because of Red Skull. Crossbones isn't the leader of Hydra, Red Skull is." she said.

"But he's dead. Has been for over 100 years." I protested, but I definitely believed it. I mean, look at her parents. They're living examples of the impossible.

"They found a way to bring him back to life. Hydra, I mean. Except- oh god. Aunt Laura-" her breathing began getting more labored. I grabbed her arms.

"What's going to happen to her?" I asked. She looked me in the eyes and her eyes looked haunted.

"She's going to die."

(ALANA POV)

I fiddled with my ice powers, making little snowballs in my hand and throwing them at Elliot and Tanner. This is amusing.

"LANA!" they both protested. I laughed.

"This is fun. Where's Jade? I need to thank her." I said. To be honest, I was scared at first, but this is a lot of fun, and I don't really think anything bad can come of a little ice besides freezing people into Popsicles.

"She's still in time out." Sarah said, walking in.

"Who missed me?" Came a female voice I've never heard before. We snapped our heads over to see a woman, probably early 30s fly in with wings. Now why couldn't that be my power?

She had long silky black hair and medium toned skin with steel gray eyes. Even though her hair color, skin color, and eye color are totally different, she kind of resembles Johnny. She was tall and slim. She was wearing black pumps, black slacks, a white shirt and a black blazer.

"Hey Stranger." Uncle Steve said, smiling.

She disappeared and reappeared without wings. WHAT?! "Hey Steve." she said, hugging him.

"Mini May! Are you wearing business clothing?" Uncle Tony asked with a gasp.

"Yes Tony. I'm 42. I have a job as a lawyer. I kind of have to wear business." she replied, smiling.

"Hold up! Who are you?" I asked.

"Ava Stark, at your service." she said.

"Wait. You're my older sister?" Naomi asked. "But you don't look like me."

"Adopted sister." she answered.

"Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" Tanner demanded.

"Wait wait wait. So why did her call you mini may? That's my mom's name." Elliot said.

"Barton gave me that nickname. He said I reminded him of her." she replied.

"Johnny?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Clint." This Ava lady corrected.

"So . . . Did you need something? Because we're kinda in the middle of planning a battle." I said, bothered. Jade probably knew about her too.

"Well, I'm here to help." she said.

"We don't want your help." Naomi muttered.

"Too bad. You're getting it whether you want it or not." she replied.

I change my mind. I like her. "I like you." I said.

"Thanks. I like you too. I love your hair. My hair was blue for a while. But then I got a job as a lawyer and was told it looks unprofessional." she said, shrugging.

"Thanks!" I said.

"I hate to break up the love but um, dad? Why did you not mention this either?" Tanner asked.

"Well, we figured we'd come to it when we came to it. Everyone, this is Ava. Ava is mine and Pepper's adopted daughter. Ours because she needed a legal guardian and only me or Steve could logically do it and she would end up out aging Steve looks wise so that wouldn't work so there we have it. She can shapeshift and has wings. It's a little strange, because she's my adopted daughter, so her little brother is dating her nicknamesake's daughter." he said.

"That is kinda weird." Ava agreed. "Well, it's all good. I approve of their relationship. You're getting married some day." she said, pointing to me and Tanner.

Tanner and I blushed and looked at each other. "Um, thanks?" I said. She laughed.

"I better be a bridesmaid." she said.

"We only just met you." I told her. She laughed.

"You'll be seeing a lot of me from now on." she said. "Natasha! Did you and Steve have children yet?" she asked.

"Yeah. This is Juliana and Jade is-"

"Jade's in time out." Sarah said.

"How old is Jade?" Ava asked, confused.

"18." Uncle Steve answered.

"She's in time out in a closet with her boyfriend." Naomi said cheerfully. "It's couples therapy."

"Did you lock them in the closet?" Ava asked her.

"Yup." Naomi said.

Ava grinned. "I like you too. I think Jade would be a mini Natasha."

"Well, she's more like a terrible combination of all their worst traits." Tanner muttered. I looked at him.

Everyone else was continuing their conversation but I don't really care. "What's up with you?" I asked him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, ignoring my question.

I crossed my arms. "I asked first."

"And you also just got powers." he said.

"I'm fine Tanner. Nothing's wrong with me. In fact, they're kinda fun." I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm 1000 percent positive." I assured.

He smirked. "You can't be 1000 percent positive-"

"Yeah yeah." I said, rolling my eyes. He laughed.

(NAOMI POV)

Time to go let Jade and Jason out of the closet. I hope everything is resolved between them, and for once I actually hope they're making out or something in there. At least hugging.

Ava walked with me. It's kinda weird to me. She's like the older version of Alana.

I opened the closet door and I saw them staring at each other, Jason's hands on her arms. I guess it didn't work after all.

Jade looked at Ava and sighed. "Hello Ava." she said, then walked past her.

"I've never met her." Ava declared.

"Yeah . . . She's a telepath." I muttered.

"Guys, we need to find Thomas Ward." Jason said.

"Why?" Aunt Skye asked.

"Because Red said we have to." he said simply. Well, At least the couples therapy worked.

"You're still trusting her?" Elliot asked, his face cold.

"Of course I am. Are you?" Jason replied, giving him a look.

"No. And you shouldn't be either. Doesn't it bother you Jason? She hid all that for a year. Some of it for four years." he said.

"Yeah? She's also saved my life more times than I can count." Jason said, looking pissed off.

"Just watch. You trusting her is going to get somebody seriously hurt." Elliot told him.

"What is your problem? Terrigenesis isn't that big of a deal. I went through it, Red went through it, Nat, my mom, Aunt Skye, Uncle Lincoln, Sarah, they all went through it. Yeah it's kind of scary, but she's fine. She's not being annoyingly stubborn, you are. So what gives?" Jason demanded, annoyed.

"This isn't about that. It's the fact that you two are basically walking time bombs. We can't do anything against Hydra without them blowing you up." Elliot replied, gritting his teeth.

"Yeah? Get rid of us then." Jason challenged.

Elliot glared at him. "You know we can't do that. And besides, you wouldn't be going anywhere."

"And why not?" Jason asked.

"Because we just can't. I might not trust her but that doesn't mean I want her dead. And you didn't do anything." he said.

"No. You don't trust me either." Jason said.

Elliot scoffed. "That's ridiculous."

"I can feel it. Not that ridiculous." Jason replied, staring his best friend down.

"Maybe you two need couples therapy too." Alana said, pushing them apart. "Break it up."

They both looked down at her, an amusing sight. Alana is probably 5'4", and Jason is a whole foot taller than her and Elliot is almost a whole foot taller than her. He's like 6'1" or something like that.

"Elliot, look at me. I'm fine. I appreciate the concern, but seriously, I'm all good." She said frustratedly.

"And you. Don't you think he has a point? How do you know if any of what she's saying is the truth?" she demanded.

"Because I do. I know when she's lying to me. I just don't know what she's hiding."

"And does that not faze you even a little?" I asked him.

"No. Not really." he replied, looking at me. "None of us knew what you were hiding either. Not even your brother." he pointed out. Ouch. That hurt.

"That's different. That's not as big of a deal as-"

"You're right. Which is exactly why she didn't tell anyone. She knew that if she made one wrong move, every single one of us would die. Do you even get how that must have been for her? She didn't have a choice." he said.

"What's your problem?" I demanded. "You're upset, I get it. But don't be mad at us. We didn't do anything. The same can't be said about her. She knows it, why don't you?!" I said, getting in his face.

He glared at me. "We need to get things done. We don't have time for this." he said.

"Yeah? Apparently you have the time to be a self-absorbed jerk. Do you even understand that everybody here has been through a hell of a lot of crap because of you two?!" My voice rising.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I understand that. What I'm saying is that it's more important to stop Hydra now." he said.

"Where is Jade now huh? She's not defending you."

"No. She's getting things done." he replied coolly, walking away. I want to scream in frustration. Instead I punched Tanner.

"Hey! There are punching bags downstairs." He protested.

"I know. You were closer." I said. He rolled his eyes.

(SARAH POV)

I looked around and made sure nobody was following me, and then I made a call.

"Sarah?" he asked.

"Yeah, I kinda need you to come over to the plane now. Like now now. Within the the next 10 minutes."

"Why?"

"Jade told everyone." I replied.

"Oh. Okay, I'm coming." he said, then hung up. He's not very talkative.

"So? That's what you've been hiding? You've kept in touch with Thomas Ward?" Johnny asked from behind me. I almost jumped, almost.

"I can explain-"

"Nah, you don't have to. I already knew." he said.

"Wait what?" I asked, shocked.

"You're not difficult to read Sarah. Actually, you're pretty much an open book. I knew something was up a few months ago. I looked into it and found out you've been making calls to the FBI. Then I put the pieces together. It's really not that hard." he said.

"So . . . You're not pissed?" I asked.

He laughed. "No. Why would I be?" he asked. Oh crap, he doesn't know the bad part.

"Uh well, basically, so, well- basically I've kind of been keeping him updating on Jade and Jason's actions because the FBI considers them a threat to national security." I said as quickly and quietly as possible.

Johnny was just staring at me for a second. I winced. Then he groaned.

"Sarah, don't you get it? Hydra probably has access to the FBI mainframe." he said.

"But he said that it was secure-"

"Well it's Hydra. You're good at this stuff, do you really think that if they were being hacked by Hydra they'd know?" he asked.

"Good point. So that's why Jade wouldn't tell us?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Probably." he agreed.

"Yes." Jade agreed quietly, appearing out of nowhere seemingly. I almost jumped again, almost.

"You could've told me. I would've stopped giving them information." I said.

She shrugged. "Would you have kept it to yourself anyway? No, you would've told somebody. Not just you, anybody would. It's kind of a big burden to be carrying by yourself." she replied, her voice still quiet.

"You did it." Johnny pointed out.

"I'm used to it." she said, and then she left.

(JULIANA POV)

I'm pissed off. No, more than that. I'm angry. I don't really get angry. I'm a happy person most of the time. But no, I'm angry now.

And unlike my parents, I'm not angry at myself anymore, oh hell no. I'm mad at Jade. She's so insensitive. Does she not just realize that I thought she was dead. Does she not get that?

I was ready to murder somebody. But does she care? No, of course not. Of course she doesn't give a damn.

She doesn't even care and I'm so mad at her. I want to punch her, and I wish it would actually hurt. I can't believe her.

"Hey-" Jack started.

"She's so irritating!" I said, taking him by surprise.

"Jade?" he asked. I nodded.

"I can't believe her. She so- agh." I rampaged.

He looked at me. "You know, I think she's kind of preoccupied at the moment." he said.

"I don't care. Im her sister. She should at least care a little bit." I replied.

"I'm sure she does care, she just- never mind I can't think of an excuse." he said.

I gave him a look. "She made me think she was dead. That she wasn't coming back. And then instead of saying anything to me, she was too busy arguing with Jason. And on top of that, she was trying to get him to accept the fact that she was going to die. What about me? I don't care if it sounds selfish, she promised me she wasn't going to die. She promised." I ranted. I don't care if I sound like an upset 5 year old. I don't care if anyone thinks I'm throwing a tantrum.

"I don't think she's going to die." he said.

"Why not? She's basically hell bent on getting herself blown up." I replied heatedly.

"She has been telling herself that she's going to die for a year now. She came to terms with it. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision, but she accepted it. What she didn't realize is that nobody else is just going to let her die like that. When she did, she pretended to shoot herself, so that we wouldn't hesitate. But she also didn't count on Jason knowing her so well. Now, she can't accept that her plan failed. Give her time. She'll come to you." he said calmly.

I took a deep breath. "I'm still mad at her." I said. He laughed and I glared at him. "What?" I demanded.

"You're cute when you're angry." Was all he said.

"Am not." I protested, blowing a stray strand of hair out of my face.

"Are too." he replied, kissing me.

"You know, you can't get away with everything by kissing me." I told him.

He smirked. "It's worked out for me so far." he said. I shook my head.

"You're so annoying." I said.

"You love me." he replied.

I sighed. "Yeah, I do." I admitted.

(JADE POV)

So Naomi and Robert have a plan. It should work, but for some reason I'm not happy about it.

I should be. I should be happy with this. I don't have to die. But to be frank, I don't really know if it's worth living anymore. I messed everything up.

I just figured that it doesn't matter if I ruin my relationships with everyone else because I'm going to die anyway. But then, well, things didn't work out that way. I shouldn't be so unhappy with this solution.

And even worse, this plan puts Nina and Elliot at risk. I have to tell them now before more bad things happen.

I lifted up my head and looked at everyone who was bickering amongst themselves.

"Guys, there's something you should know." I said. They went silent and looked at me.

"Elliot, there's a chance you're not inhuman. If you're not, you'll die. Your tests came back unclear." I said.

"What tests?" Dianna asked.

"I kind of tested both of their DNA to make sure that Alana wouldn't be hurt by the terrigenesis." I told them all.

"And why would you do that?" Tanner asked, giving me a look. I'm pretty sure he's going to hate me for the rest of time.

"Because contrary to popular belief, I don't want to hurt anybody." I muttered. "You do what you want. If this plan doesn't work, it's not going to be my fault." I said.

"Well, technically, it would be your fault if something went wrong, because if you had just told us sooner we wouldn't even have to use this plan." he replied. He's right, he's right and that makes me so angry you have no idea.

"I know okay! I get it! But what was I supposed to do? Sarah was giving information to the FBI and Hydra can hack their files! If I told you she would have told them and then what would have happened? We all would've died! All of us. Do you think I wanted to hide all of this from everyone? And honestly, do you know how hard it is to accept that your life is so expendable, so disposable? Because for the past four years any moment could've been my last, and do you really think I wanted Jase to deal with that either? No, why would I? And I knew all along that their intent on kidnapping me was to make me a weapon for Hydra, I knew, because why else would they put a bomb in me. And then, they kidnapped me and Jase, and I was so scared they would use one of the bombs in us as leverage, so I almost told them what they wanted to know. I'm not saying that what I did was right, I'm saying that I didn't have a choice in the matter. So that's it. Hydra succeeded in their plan. I had to go along with it because they covered all their bases and there was no way to get out of that situation." I said angrily. I'm not angry at them, no, I'm angry at myself, at Hydra, at the universe for making my life so freaking complicated. I could feel the tears pushing behind my eyes, but I'm not going to cry in front of them.

"Sarah was doing what?" Aunt Skye asked, glaring at her daughter. "You can't just do things like that!" she yelled at her.

"Mom-"

"No! That is so dangerous! Do you know who works for the FBI? Thomas Ward. The psychopath's little brother! Do you realize he could've been feeding information to Hydra?!"

"I wasn't." A guy's voice said.

"Thomas?" Ava asked, looking shocked.

"Ava? What are you doing here?" Thomas asked in response.

"I think I should be asking you that." She replied, giving him a look. He's tall with dark hair and green eyes, otherwise a carbon copy of his older brother.

"Wait what? You two know each other?" Naomi asked.

"He's my ex-husband." she said, raising her eyebrows. "And he has a hell of a lot of explaining to do."

"You married him?!" My dad asked.

"Relax Steve. We did it properly. It's not like we ran away and eloped." she responded.

"Oh you better not have young lady." he said, giving her a look. That's an amusing sight, my dad, who still looks to be in his mid-20s, saying that to a 40 year old woman.

"Guys, back on topic. So anyway, I trusted him. Just because his brother was evil doesn't make him evil too. Like Thor for example. He's not evil like Loki." Sarah said.

"Loki is his half brother." Uncle Lincoln said.

"Doesn't matter. They were raised under the same roof by the same parents." Sarah replied.

"She has a point. Like just because Jade lacks decision making skills doesn't mean Juliana does too." Tanner said.

"Would you leave it alone?" I snapped.

"I'm just telling the truth." he replied, glaring back.

"Well nobody asked for it." I said.

"I can say what I want, it's a free country." he said. "Wouldn't you know that? Your dad is Captain America. Symbol of liberty and freedom." he taunted. My dad rolled his eyes. I for one think he sounds exactly like Uncle Tony right now.

"Guys! We have more important things to worry about than your bickering." Aunt Pepper said.

(LATER, AVA POV)

Once everyone left, I looked at my ex slightly annoyed. "Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Sarah asked me to come." he said, shrugging.

"And how do you know Sarah?" I demanded.

"She's friends with our son." he said.

"I told you to stay away from him." I growled.

"Well, you weren't keeping an eye on him." he said.

"You don't know that."

"Well you weren't with him.

"Because I couldn't be. There's a reason I gave him to Clint and Laura to raise." I hissed.

"He's my son too you know. And it's not like I did anything to deserve to have to stay away from him." he replied.

"You don't understand. If your brother had known while he was alive that Johnny was our son, he would've used him against you. It would have made him a target." I said.

"But my brother's dead now." he said.

"He wasn't when you first started talking to Sarah." I said.

"So it all comes back to him. I thought you were better than that. You said it yourself, he will never affect how you feel about me. I guess that was a lie. You know I wouldn't have let that happen anyway. And besides, The danger is gone now." he said.

"It's not. It's really not. They're all about to go into battle. Do you really think now is the time to drop this on him? It's not. It would be better if he never finds out."

"That's not right." he argued.

"If you tell him, I will make you regret it". I threatened. "And how did you even find out about him?" I demanded.

"Please. It's not that difficult. I knew you were pregnant when we got divorced. I also knew that Tony would get rid of any legal issues surrounding the kid. Then there's the fact that Laura wasn't pregnant when I met her, because she was drinking alcohol, and she would've had to have known at that point. On top of that, he basically looks exactly like you and me." he said.

"Fine, you have a point. But you still shouldn't be seeking him out." I said.

"It's fine. Johnny is okay. Our son is okay." he said.

"Do you have any idea how hard it has been for me to stay away? I have been keeping an eye on him, but I've missed everything. His first steps, his first words, everything I missed. Do you know how hard it is for me? That he doesn't even remember me? I don't expect him to take me back into his life now, and you shouldn't either. We weren't there for him when he needed us and we can't just expect him to accept us now. So leave him alone. I don't even know if I want to be in his life. I'm his mother, I should've been there." I said. "And I'm not letting you jeopardize the sole reason I've stayed away." I said, glaring.

"Is that why you left?" he asked quietly.

I swallowed. "Yes." I had found out I was pregnant and then left him, going solo for a while until Johnny was about three months old. Then I gave him to Laura. I told her he was my son, but nothing else. I asked her to take care of him because I knew nobody could know that Thomas was his father.

"Did you even care? I mean, did it hurt at all when you left? Or was it easy?" he asked.

"Of course I cared. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Second only to giving Johnny to Laura and Clint. I loved you, Thomas. I still love you, but I did what I had to do to protect him. I don't regret it, but I do wish there was another way." I said.

He looked at me, his green eyes dark and conflicted. "

(JASON POV)

It's late at night, and everyone else has already gone to sleep. I don't know where Red is, but she'll come eventually.

I had lied down when I realized something. Ava and Thomas were married. Johnny looks uncannily like the two of them. It shouldn't be possible. But at the same time, it seems all too likely, considering they both showed up here at the same time.

Ava also mentioned that Uncle Clint gave her her nickname, which suggests they were close. Sarah was in contact with Thomas this whole time, and that could've been a way for him to keep updated on how Johnny is doing.

But why wouldn't they have just raised him? Well, Thomas is a Ward. He works for the FBI. The FBI has a lot of useful information. No doubt the evil Ward would've known Thomas's weaknesses, and if the fact that he had a son was recorded anywhere, that would've put Johnny at risk.

Ava never visited once though. Why wouldn't she? She's friends with all of our parents, it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary.

I sighed and closed my eyes. Everything will be revealed in time. There are so many secrets and layers to the secrets and it's all so complicated. And now is not the time to reveal any of this to Johnny. I don't know how he'd react, but he probably won't be happy about it.

It's too much to think about now. It didn't hit me at first, but thinking about it now, everything Red did makes sense. It's not what I would've liked her to do, but if I'm being honest, I would've done the same. And that's a little hypocritical of me.

(LATER)

My eyes snapped open as I felt a slight shift next to me. I flipped over and pinned down whoever was there next to me, my tired brain not recognizing that it was most likely Red because who else would it be.

She looked at me, a little startled. "Relax. It's just me." she said.

I let go of her and she looked at me. "I'm sorry." she said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Everything. I should've told you." she replied quietly.

"Don't be. I would've done the same thing." I told her. "But from now on, no more secrets, okay?"

"No more secrets." she agreed. "There's something you should probably know though." she said.

"Yeah?"

"Johnny is Thomas and Ava's son. Not Uncle Clint and Aunt Laura's. The adults know that he's adopted, just not who his real parents are. Well, Uncle Clint and Aunt Laura know who his mom is." I said.

"I kind of figured it out. It wasn't that difficult, I mean, he looks freakishly like them, and then there's the fact that they both showed up here now and they used to be married." I said. She nodded.

"I know. I could hear you thinking about it. I just hope Johnny doesn't figure it out just yet." she said.

"Now really isn't the time for any of that." I agreed. We sat in silence for few moments, trying to process everything that had happened today.

It's honestly so much to take in at once. So many secrets on top of secrets and lies built upon more lies and plans and deceptions and there's way too much.

(JOHNNY POV)

I feel like the breath has been knocked out of me. "Our son is okay. Johnny is okay."

I think I'm going to be sick. Not only are my parents not my parents and my brother is not my brother, Sarah might have known. She may have known this whole time and didn't say anything about it.

And now both of my birth parents, who I always thought were the same people as the people who raised me, are here, on the plane. And not only that, Ava is Tanner and Naomi's adopted older sister, which means that I'm their nephew, legally speaking.

Oh my god this is so confusing. Wait a minute. We named our son after my father. No, he's not my father. He's just the guy that gave me my Y chromosome. That's it. My dad is still my dad. Clinton Francis Barton is my dad. Nothing changes that.

So Ava and Thomas got divorced when she was pregnant with me and told him to stay away. And why would my parents not bother to mention this to me?

I walked into the kitchen after recollecting myself, only to see my parents standing there.

"So. Ava and Thomas are apparently my birth parents." I said, crossing my arms.

"Johnny-"

"No. I wouldn't have cared, you know. The problem is that you didn't tell me. I mean, what was stopping you?" I demanded.

"Get down." My dad said suddenly, shoving me down and shooting behind me.

I turned around. "What the hell." I muttered, annoyed. There's a Hydra agent on our plane. Kill me now. Actually, kill them now.

There's more of them, oh god there's too many. Where did they come from?

(LATER, STEVE POV)

We woke up inside a containment unit. What? All I remember is fighting like crazy until I blacked out.

My eyes immediately searched for Natasha and the kids. Natasha is across the unit, and Juliana is a few people down. But I don't know where Jade is.

Then someone walked in. "Hello." they said in a thick German accent.

I looked at the speaker and cursed under my breath. I stood up. "How are you still alive?" I demanded.

"You are still alive, are you not? It is not impossible."

"Yeah, but you went down in icy waters."

"As did you. And you are alive. With children." he said, smiling sadistically. I want to throw up and punch him and murder him in the most painful ways possible.

Then Jade was dragged in. She looked like she was barely conscious. She had several bloody injuries all over and was bruised in multiple places. It looks like she has a broken arm and leg. There was blood trickling out of her mouth.

After her came Jason, who was in an even worse state. He was completely unconscious, with burn marks all over him and was also bloody. I know they'll both heal soon, but not soon enough. And I thought Jason couldn't get burned.

"Look at them. They are in no condition to fight back. And, as I'm sure Jade told you, we have the detonators to the bombs inside of them. So, you have options. Do what I want or I will not hesitate to blow them up."

"You won't. You blow them up and you lose your leverage."

"You don't and you lose your child." he replied. "I'm not surprised you still care, Captain. You are often blinded. Did she tell you that she was a double agent for us? That she was a spy for us?"

Everyone looked unsure whether or not to believe it, but this guy is a liar. I don't believe it. "No. He's-" Jade started protesting weakly, before she was punched.

"Why do you deny it? You will die anyway. And besides, who could blame you? Being a double agent runs in your blood." he told her, smiling amusedly.

Oh he's going to get it. "Hand over control of SHIELD to me, and those two can go free." he said.

"Never." I said, angry.

"Fine then." he said. Then people dragged the two of them into metal chairs roughly. "For now the boy will be spared. He cannot scream." he said. "Proceed."

They pulled out a needle and Jade's eyes widened. She shut her eyes tightly as they lifted up her sleeve and plunged it in. There's a cluster of needle scars in that area. How many times has this happened to her?

Then they took out an electric baton and stabbed her with it. She grit her teeth. "Stop!" Juliana protested.

"Then cooperate." Red Skull said.

"No. Don't- ahhhhhhh!" Jade said, then she screamed in pain. They moved the baton and I could see her struggling to regain her breath.

"Come on Captain." Red Skull pushed. I looked at Natasha next to me and she shook her head reluctantly.

"You can't. Don't do it. Even if you do what they want, they won't let us go. They'll still continue to hurt her. At least this way the pain will end sooner for her." she told me.

"But-"

"Steve, it's what she wants us to do." she said, a glint in her eyes, and then I got it. It's time to stall. Usually stalling is a great option, except this time the longer it takes for me to figure out a plan, the more Jade gets hurt.

"Okay." I agreed quietly. She nodded. "Listen, okay. I have conditions." I said.

Someone new walked in and I recognized him as Mark Ronson. "I don't think you are in a position to negotiate." he said. "Hello Jade."

"You're supposed to be dead." she said, her face cold. "You died." she repeated.

"I'll leave you to it." Red Skull said, walking out and locking the door.

"What, no hello? Are you not happy to see me?" he asked innocently. She glared at him.

"Even if you weren't a terrible human being, seeing your ugly face would still be torture to my eyes." she spat. He just laughed.

"Do you remember my daughter? Bridget? Her death was not an accident. I caused their car crash." he revealed.

"You did what?!" Matthew asked, pissed off.

"Yes I did. But that can be addressed later. For now-" He cut himself off, producing a knife out of nowhere and stabbing her leg with it. She grit her teeth in pain and glared at him.

"What the hell?! What do you want? Why are you doing this? Does this make you happy or something? It probably does, you're that sick and twisted. Honestly, how did you ever get married and have two kids? I feel so bad for your ex-wife." Jade said, looking mad. For some reason, she wasn't lacking any energy.

His expression darkened at the mention of his past marriage. "That's a touchy subject." he said.

Jade laughed coldly. "Touchy subject. Oh that's funny, coming from you. Do you think I care? What was her name, hmm? What do you think she would say about you stabbing me with a knife? I doubt she would approve. What about your son, you know, who you didn't succeed in killing? You only paralyzed him. Nice job, you didn't completely f up somebody's life." she said. Oh god. She's excellent at manipulating people. Getting them to do exactly what she wants and when she wants it is her specialty.

I've never truly understood how dangerous she actually is. I can almost see how, if I were leading a government organization, she would be very threatening. She's probably in a hell of a lot of pain right now, but she's not showing it. In fact, she's causing him pain. And she's done this more times than any of us had when we were 18. She's a super soldier inhuman. She and Jason are the only ones like that. Granted, they weren't born that way.

Right now, what she's doing could get her hurt more. But if she does it just right, she can get him to let her go.

"Shut. Up." he growled. He pulled the knife out of her leg haphazardly and she inhaled sharply in pain. He analyzed her and she glared back.

"Let's see. What form of torture do you hate the most?" he asked rhetorically. I hate the fact that he has tortured her enough to know that. "I think you hated this the most." he said, grinning sadistically. He ripped off her tank top and I immediately looked down. What the hell is wrong with this guy? If he does anything even remotely close to what it looks like I'm going to murder him. Actually, I'm going to murder him anyway.

I forced myself to look. "Your scars have been fading? That's too bad. We'll just have to replace them." he said.

I was almost relieved when he said that. Almost, but not quite. He then slowly cut a straight line across her stomach, drawing blood. Well, at least now we know exactly how all those scars came to be. Not the method I was hoping to find out by, not by any means.

I saw Jason stir ever so slightly out of the corner of my eye, he opened his eyes just a tiny bit and seemed to be assessing the situation. Jade seemed to notice this and I could tell she was panicking.

"So. Your lwife. Her maiden name was Martin, right? She was Charlie's aunt?" Jade asked.

The I had a twisted thought. Sofia, Charlie's daughter in the future, and Steven, Jade's son in the future, get married and have kids. Those kids don't have the blood of both the victim and the villain, but they're related, in this situation. That's messed up.

"Trying to distract me won't work." He replied.

"I just wanted to know. I mean, do you still love her?" she asked.

He just stared off into space. Oh yeah, Jade definitely hit a sore spot. Then he seemed to come back to reality. "Stop talking about her." he said.

"How about no?" Jade replied, smirking. "I mean, it's not like you ever listened when I asked you to stop."

"I'm not asking. And besides, you're hardly in a position to-"

"Do you ever just sit there and ponder how it's possible that you screwed up so badly? I mean, don't you ever regret ruining your life, ruining your ex-wife's life, ending your daughter's life, paralyzingly your son, does any of that faze you?" she interrupted. "I've always wanted to hear a psychopath's justifications for their actions."

"It wasn't my decision." he said, glaring at her.

"You still did it. You still drove a car straight into theirs. You still sent them spinning off until they hit a few other cars and they flipped over. Does it make you happy that you've caused so many people pain? Does it make you happy when you hear that their mother spent weeks crying after it happened? Do you think she still loves you? Hmm, do you think so? And do you think she would still love you after she finds out you murdered her daughter, your daughter?" Jade pressed. I think, in the normal world, she would've made one great psychologist. "But you know, there is a way to make things right. You just have to do one thing. Press that button over there. The big red one. I promise, it doesn't affect our inhibitors at all. It won't release us, nothing." she said, and I can tell she's being honest. Then what does it do?

He grit his teeth. "Then what does it do?" he voiced my thoughts.

"Nothing bad, I swear. Believe me, do you really think I would lie right now? I'm cuffed to a chair and you're holding a knife."

"Fine." he said. He pressed it and Sapphire smirked next to Natasha, her eyes turning slightly blue.

"I gotta hand it to you. Your daughter is smart." She muttered. "Hey Natalie, it's a shame the inhibitors are on in here. Otherwise you'd be able to turn off Jason and Jade's inhibitors."

"Yeah it is a shame." Natalie agreed, catching on.

"I don't know what you intended by doing that. Your situation is hopeless. Captain, do what we want or we'll hurt her more." he said.

Now is the time to stall. He needs to focus on me so his back is turned from Jade so Natalie can move something towards her and press the button to turn off her inhibitors.

"No." Natasha replied for me. "And besides, I doubt you have the decision making skills necessary to move your limbs the way you want them to. You're basically a puppet."

He glared at us and noticed Jason was awake. Crap. Then he grinned. At least he's facing him and not Jade. That sounds terrible, I know, but the button to turn off the inhibitors is behind Jade.

"Well well, look who's awake." he said. Jason glared at him. Then suddenly he jumped up, taking the psycho by surprise and landing a solid punch to the jaw. Mark fell backwards but got straight back up. Jason glared and suddenly Mark fell down, cringing in pain. Jade was staring, not even standing up although her cuffs were undone.

Slowly she stood up. Then her face contorted in rage and she kicked him in the side, hard. She grabbed a gun off the table and aimed it, but she didn't shoot. Surprisingly enough, she just grit her teeth and walked away. Then she walked into an attached area of the unit where there was back up tactical gear, most probably to get a shirt. Jason pressed a button and the unit opened. We walked out and Natalie immediately crushed him in a hug.

"Nat. Ow. Ribs. Burns." he muttered. She let go and looked him over.

"What happened to you? I thought you couldn't get burned?" she asked.

"I don't know. We fought. We lost. That's it." he said. "And how the hell does this guy keep coming back to life? First Red killed him, then I killed him, what is his deal?!" Then he left.

"And Red Skull is alive?" Juliana asked.

(JADE POV)

I pulled on a shirt, albeit with some struggle, and sat down on the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest. I'm not going to patch myself up at all, there's no point.

That made me feel so vulnerable. Being tortured in front of all of them. No doubt they already knew just how broken I am, but this was just like recomfirmation. And then I had to go show them exactly how twisted and messed up I really am. I just used his own tactics against him.

"Hey Red." I heard from the entry. I pulled my head up and looked at him. He was still bruised and bloody, but at least the burns had almost entirely healed themselves. His dark eyes glinted slightly from the stark moonlight coming in through the tiny window in the dark bunk.

"Hey." I said quietly. "How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm fine. It'll all go away in an hour anyway. You?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Like you said. It'll go away soon." I said. But that's the thing. It won't. This just made me realize no matter how many times we shoot down the bad guys they'll keep coming back. No matter what we do we can't win. I can't win. He was supposed to be dead, and somehow he came back. He's alive. Mark Ronson, Red Skull, why are they alive?

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, although now he was next to me, his arm around me. I guess I was just lost in thought, or maybe he has some new teleportation ability. Honestly, both options are equally feasible at this point.

"They all saw that. I mean, it shouldn't matter. It never did before. They all hate me anyway, so why does it matter?" I muttered.

"They don't all hate you. They're just a little mad." he said. I gave him a look.

"A little?" I asked.

"Okay, a lot. But besides that, why wouldn't it matter? I don't think you need to be reminded of what just happened, but it's not just something little you can just brush off." he said.

"But it really is. In the grand scheme of things, it's so insignificant. I should be used to it but I'm not. I should be so many things but I'm not. I'm a failure, okay? I don't understand why the goddamn universe thought it was a good idea to make me responsible for so much crap when all I'm capable of doing is messing it up even more." He opened his mouth to respond but then his eyes widened.

"Red, look." he said urgently, standing up quickly.

"Listen guys. I'm sorry. You need to get out of here now. You'll survive. I'm dropping you in the ocean, find a way out as quickly as possible. We'll handle this situation here. I love you. I'm sorry." The speaker pressed a button and the chamber released out of the plane. It was my mom, and she just dropped us into the Atlantic Ocean


	28. Betrayal

**Hello everyone! Here's a new chapter! There's a plot twist in here I hope you enjoy! On with the story! ;)**

(JASON POV)

We're dropping and I can feel us accelerating faster and faster. She looked out of it, like she couldn't believe that her mom just did that. After thinking about it for 5 seconds, I can definitely believe it. She didn't want us there for the final battle. It's a good strategy, I guess. But at the same time, we can't live at the bottom of the ocean forever.

The impact will hurt though. I know that much. And both of us have broken bones and that impact will make things worse no doubt about it. "Red, can you try and ease the impact possibly?" I asked.

She snapped her head up and looked at me. "Yeah. Yeah I can." she said, and she concentrated on the box. I could feel us slowing down.

And then something hit us from the side and we slammed sideways, now accelerating even faster than we had been before. We both crashed to the side of the pod, falling sideways now. I'm going to have a terrible migraine after this, I just know it. We turned again, and again we slid into the corner. Red crashed into me and I wrapped my arms around her and she did the same to me.

I could see the ocean approaching beneath us through the clear pane, and I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the impact. When we hit, it felt like we hit concrete.

We sank slowly from then on, the water slowing our rate of acceleration. That was probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, and that says a lot. It was dark, almost pitch black.

After we finally stopped descending, I took a deep breath and looked at Red. "Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

"Yeah. Just- give it a second so the world can stop spinning." she mumbled. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, besides the fact that we just fell into the Atlantic." I replied. She shook her head slightly.

"At least we're alive. There's food in here, and water." she said. "Why would she do that though? It doesn't make sense."

"Because she doesn't want us there when they're fighting. Look, you can still contact them and see what's happening over there, so it's not that bad." I said.

"Well, I guess we're stuck here for a while." she muttered, moving away from me and pacing around the small area.

I leaned back against the wall and raised my eyebrows. "You're not going to try to get out of here?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. Like I said, they don't need my help. They could probably use your help, but they'll manage without it. With us down here, Hydra has no leverage against them because we're at the bottom of the ocean and if they decide to blow us up, the only people who get hurt are you, me, and the fish."

I shrugged. "Makes sense." She stopped pacing and stared at me.

"Red Skull, Mark Ronson, they're both alive. If they brought them back to life, then maybe Ward-"

"No. Even if they could, his body is literally burned to a crisp. It's not possible." I cut off. I don't even want to think about what would happen then. "Listen, they'll handle it. We just have to wait down here for a while."

"Yeah, yeah you're right." she agreed. "There's bandages and everything in here. While we're down here, we might as well." she said, pulling some stuff out of the wall compartments. She handed me some stuff and I sighed. She's right, I just don't see the point. I'm not in any hurry to use my blue fire again, seeing as it burned me for whatever reason. No clue what happened there, but I don't want to know.

She pulled off her shirt and I grimaced at the long, bloody cut on her stomach and the bruises by her ribs. I literally wanted to watch him die slowly and painfully when he ripped off her shirt, and every single time I remember that footage of her being tortured I want to punch something. And to think, they were planning on having someone who was wearing a nanomask and looking like me, do that to her. I'm surprised she could even look at me after that. Obviously it wasn't me, and she knew that, but still.

It was a whole month. I was quite literally shattered after just one day. Too much has happened recently. Before we agreed to be on the team, we were living relatively peacefully. There were a few months where I was recovering and then 8 months of peace and no problems greater than Tanner and Naomi pranking us nonstop.

Then we agreed to be on the team and we find that not only does Red have a sister, but that that sister is best friends with my sister, and that our future son's girlfriend's father brainwashed me twice and had been trying to sabotage Red for years. We also find that said future son's girlfriend's mother is adopted second cousin to Marlin.

After that, we find out that Artemis and Apollo are Thor's kids we never knew about and hated them almost instantly until we had to team up with them to rescue their mom. Fun. Then Fury sends me on a solo mission and nobody could find me because I was trapped in some maze for two weeks and Red was losing her mind, quite literally.

Then Hydra followed us to a park. A freaking park. It's so ridiculous. I mean, they couldn't just let us have a single minute of peace?

So much has happened and it's all been leading up to this. And now, we're not going to be there to witness it or partake in it. It's a little unsatisfying. I mean, all this crap has happened to us, and we can't do anything about it because we're at the bottom of the Atlantic.

"Are you really okay?" Red asked me. I looked at her.

"Yeah. I was just thinking." I replied.

"About what?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just about how unfair our lives are." I said.

She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. I know. It sucks." she muttered.

It was silent for a few minutes, me finishing patching myself up because I got lost in thought earlier, and her staring out the glass deep in thought herself.

"How long do you think we'll stay down here?" she asked.

"A few days, maybe a week maximum." I said. She sighed.

"You know, normally I wouldn't mind being stuck with you in a suspension pod for a week. I'm just pretty sure we're going to be so bored."

"That's what you're worried about. Not, like, air? Or food? Or water?" I asked, amused.

"We won't run out of air, this thing generates oxygen from the water. And as for food and water, there's plenty. Not that we need it. What I need is to be up there doing something." she said.

"How does it do that?" I asked, not bothering to address the second part of her statement.

"I have no idea." she answered. "Probably some chemicals and machinery and crap."

"Yeah, probably. Too complicated." I agreed.

She sighed. "I don't get it. All this just for Hydra to get their hands on SHIELD. And why didn't they just forcefully take it over instead of asking my dad for it?"

"I don't know." I replied. "Maybe they wanted to do that so the other SHIELD agents would give up."

"Maybe." she leaned her head back on the glass and closed her eyes. "This is so stressful." she muttered.

"It'll be fine. Nothing can happen to us down here."

"Jase, we could literally blow up at any second. Any second and we wouldn't know at all. Any moment could be our very last. I don't want to die down here taking the coward's way out when I could be up there fighting, even though this is better for everyone up there."

"Look, you have to trust them. They've done this before and they'll do it again." I said. she nodded hesitantly.

"I feel like I've been a terrible sister." she said.

I raised my eyebrows at her. She shook her head. "So many times I'm put into these life threatening situations and I don't even stop to think about how she's reacting or how she's feeling or anything. I never think about how she's dealing with all of this because I'm too absorbed in my own problems to think about hers." she said frustratedly. I focused in on Juliana's emotions and Red looked at me. "I know she's mad at me. Everyone is. Everyone should be. Including you."

"Stop it. You're not perfect, nobody is. You can't hold yourself to an impossible standard." I told her.

"It's not impossible. It's very doable. I just have to stop being a selfish idiot and wake up and realize that my problems aren't the biggest in the world."

"You've been listening to everyone else's thoughts." I stated.

"Well duh. It's kind of what I do."

"No, I mean, you're saying exactly what they've been saying about you."

"Well they're right." she said, looking down.

"No they're not. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only reason you didn't end everything years ago is because then no one would find out about the bomb in you and Hydra could kill everyone just like that." I said.

She looked at me. "Yeah. But that wasn't the only reason." I looked at her expectantly. "I promised you I wouldn't."

I stayed silent at that. What was I supposed to say? She crossed her arms and sighed again. "Whatever. It's not-" suddenly she was cut off when the pod shifted backwards again and she fell against me yet again. I looked at her face and couldn't help it, I started laughing.

She was so startled. Now she's glaring at me for laughing.

"Sorry." I said, still laughing a little. "You should've seen your face."

"You're so mean." she said, smiling slightly.

"You love me."

"Yeah, yeah I do." she agreed, kissing me lightly.

(LATER)

"We need to be up there, doing something." I muttered, getting frustrated. Red was updating me on everything that was going on and I'm getting more and more annoyed. If I could rely on my fire we could very easily get out of here, as it would produce more oxygen which would mess up the filtering system and it would just blow up. At least, I think that's how it works.

But they did something to me. I don't know what they did or how they did it but when I tried to use my fire it burned me and I couldn't control it. Normally I'm fire immune.

"Look at us. Even if we were up there, what could we do? We're both severely injured. There's nothing more we can do. My shoulder still hasn't healed. I think I broke my ankle, and I'm pretty sure your leg is broken or something like that." she said, looking up at me from where she was sitting, leaning against the wall.

I sighed and sat next to her. "You're right. I just hate not being able to do anything."

"Believe me, I get it." she said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

(NATASHA POV)

I know what I did and why I did it. As much as I hate to say it, if Red Skull decides to detonate the bombs in them, it'll be much better with them down there. He loses his leverage because even with them gone we can still beat them. But they'll be back any minute now and we can't afford to wait.

"We need a plan." I said.

Steve looked at me. "Do you have something in mind?"

"Yes." I said, and proceeded to tell them the plan.

"Where are they?" Came a voice from the doorway, a familiar voice. It was Rumlow standing there.

"Why would we tell you that?" Tony asked.

"It's okay. We know where they are. Watch for yourself." he said, pressing a button and a screen came down showing Jade and Jason in the unit.

"How did you find them?" Steve demanded.

"It was easy. She told us." He said, gesturing to Jade. "Red Skull wasn't wrong when he said she's a spy. She's Hydra through and through. At first it wasn't her choice, but she gave in eventually. Then she began to accept that Hydra was right all along." he said.

I couldn't handle it anymore, I punched him hard. "You liar."

"Watch. It's a part of the plan." he said, gesturing to the screen. He pressed a button and Jade screamed, staring at her arm as a bruise started forming. "We implanted small bombs thought her body, over 50 of them. They won't do permanent damage except for rupturing the blood vessels and causing internal bleeding."

"Red, what's happening?" Jason asked her.

"I don't know. It's- ahh!" she yelled again, as more bruises began forming.

"Once she passes out, she'll leave him a note. It'll tell him where the camera is and reveal herself." he said, smiling sadistically. I don't believe it.

The bombs kept going off, even after Clint had him pinned to the wall with his hands up, and the remote he was pressing taken away.

"You're too late. The rest will detonate and she'll pass out. But she'll heal soon enough. You didn't think we would enhance her all that much if she wasn't on our side, did you?" he asked. We could hear both of them screaming still, trying uselessly to fix the problem.

I refuse to believe it. Everything he's saying is adding up, but he's Hydra. They're good at twisting their words, but then again, so is she.

Eventually she was gone, passed out, and Steve, Juliana and I were frozen, staring at the screen as Jason noticed a paper in her hand. Disturbingly there was a message written in blood. 'They're watching you on a camera behind the cupboard. P.S. Hail Hydra.'

The gasps were collective. Jason read the note, and was still for a few moments before he turned to the camera with a murderous look. He got up, grabbed the camera, and smashed it. And that was all we could see.

Juliana then did something nobody was expecting. She shot Rumlow.

He tried to avoid it but was too slow and it hit his arm. She shot again, and again, and again. Rumlow laughed and that's when all hell broke loose. Everyone snapped out of their shock and began fighting.

(ONE WEEK LATER, JASON POV)

Hydra is gone. We took them down. We're all home now and Jade is not awake yet. I refuse to believe she was Hydra, although everyone else has accepted it. They locked her in a high security cell below ground. They said it's similar to the one they kept Ward in back in the day. I had brought her back to the surface and joined in the fight.

She's connected to IVs and everything down there, but the cell is an invisible barrier. There's a dim light on the ceiling and a rock hard bed and the rest is just concrete walls.

I went down there once and when I tried getting her out of there, they refused to let me go down there again. The door won't open for me and it's vibranium so I can't kick it down. They put so much effort into making that cell effective at containing her powers.

"JARVIS, how is she doing?" I asked.

"She woke up." he responded.

I jumped up and walked out of my room, assuming the cold look I'd been wearing for the past few days. I refuse to forgive everyone for this.

Even her family has accepted it. Juliana surprised me the most, because she believed it the fastest.

"She's awake and nobody told me." I said, walking into the kitchen.

"Because you would try to go see her." Elliot muttered. "We're just trying to stop you from getting hurt when you finally realize that she is evil." he said.

"You don't care about that. If it were up to all of you she would be dead."

"We're not killers." Uncle Tony said.

"We're all killers." I replied. "Every single one of us in here has killed out of anger." I said, pissed off.

"That's just you." Alana replied.

"You froze someone to death because they threatened your brother." I countered. She sucked in a breath.

"Shut up." Tanner said.

"Why? Because you can't handle the truth?"

"Jason. That's enough." My mom said.

"You always wanted her gone. Don't even pretend." I said.

"Jason." Natalie warned, seeing as everyone else looked pretty angry at me.

"I don't care." I said. I walked out. I need to punch something.

I focused in on her emotions and I couldn't sense anything but confusion, and pain, and then anxiety, probably because of the needles.

I grabbed a punching bag and hooked it on. I remember that paper clearly. I know what she wrote. I know she wrote it in her own blood. But she must've meant something by it. There's no way she's Hydra.

"Bobbi is about to go interrogate her. If you want to watch." Uncle Steve said quietly, before going back upstairs. I sighed and followed him. I know he's struggling with this. He's been fighting against Hydra for over 100 years now, only to believe his daughter is one of them.

But that doesn't excuse letting her stay in prison for something that can't be proven.

I went into the room and there was a screen video monitoring the room from every single angle. There were no blind spots.

"Hello Jade." Aunt Bobbi said to her.

"Why am I in here?" she asked, ripping the IVs out of her skin. She was pale and skinny, and didn't look very good at all.

"You know why you're in here. How long have you been working with Hydra?"

"What?" she asked. "I'm not Hydra! Why would you think that?!"

"Stop pretending. You know, Juliana believed it instantly. She didn't even try to defend you."

I clenched my jaw, knowing exactly how those words will affect her. She looked down, trembling slightly. "And my parents?"

"They accepted the truth, yes. It was admittedly harder for them. Your mom blames herself, saying that double crossing runs in your blood. It's not her fault though. It's yours. Your dad doesn't know how to feel. He's spent his entire life, before the ice and after, fighting Hydra only to find his daughter is working with them." she said. She knows all the right places to hit her and I hate it.

"And Jase?" Red asked, quietly.

"He's still struggling. He doesn't believe it, although he should. You know, that's probably the worst thing you did. You used him. You played with his emotions and took advantage of him and now he can't let go."

She glared. "I want to talk to him."

Aunt Bobbi actually laughed. "No, we're not letting you even look at him ever again. You've ruined his life enough."

"I'm not Hydra. I swear. But I will not speak another word to any of you after this, so get out whatever you want now."

"We have ways to get you to talk. Don't worry." Aunt Bobbi said, leaving. No, she's just Bobbi now. She's nobody to me anymore. No one here is.

When she walked upstairs I glared at her. "What did that mean? You have ways to get her to talk?" I demanded.

"It means that we will do anything in our power to prevent Hydra from rising again, which means we'll get what we need to out of her at any cost."

"And you're all okay with this?" I asked, looking around the room.

"Mom, you can look into her memories. Tell me honestly, is she actually Hydra?" I demanded.

"I can't see her memories. Her head is locked."

"So you have no proof." I said.

"She admitted it herself." Dad said.

I got up and left, slamming the door behind me.

(JADE POV)

I can't believe this. I don't know why they think I'm Hydra. They wouldn't just believe it if Red Skull or Rumlow told them. It has to be something else. At least Jase doesn't believe it. But they're not letting me see him, and of course the inhibitors are on.

There are cameras from every angle. There's a toilet over in the corner, but there's a camera pointing at that too. That fun. I can think of about 20 different ways I could end myself right here, right now, but they covered their bases. I can't get out on my own.

Maybe it's better like this. I might not be Hydra, but that doesn't mean I'm a good person. At least this way nobody else has to get hurt because of me. At least this way I'm not hurting Juliana anymore because she thinks I'm evil. My parents too, think I'm evil.

I heard footsteps but I ignored them. They'll announce themselves.

"Here's some food." Mom said. I snapped my head up and looked at her, wordlessly. "So you have nothing to say." she said, shaking her head disappointedly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I said it." I replied quietly. She pressed a button and a tiny opening appeared at the bottom, just small enough for the food to fit. I don't plan on eating it though.

"I hope you're happy. You've hurt everybody who has ever cared about you." she said, walking back up the stairs.

(LATER, JASON POV)

It was late at night and I couldn't sleep. How could I? It would just end badly.

I know she hasn't eaten anything, and that the plate of food is sitting there. All her emotions are negative. There's anger and sadness and hate and fear all jumbled up into one. I'm just appreciating that at least I can feel her emotions. At least I can feel connected to her on some level.

I focused on channeling some positivity to her, because it's the least I can do right now. Actually, it's probably the most I can do.

But then I felt a shape burst of terror from her, one I easily recognized. It's always like this when she has a nightmare. I got up and walked quickly to the room where the screen was. She was screaming and crying and she's not stopping.

This is normal. It's no worse than her nightmares always are, except this time it'll keep going because nobody is going to wake her up.

The part that made me angry? Aunt Skye was standing there watching this, not even bothering to do anything.

She glanced at me. "Go back to sleep Jason." she said.

"You know I can't, right? I can feel that. All of it." I said. She looked at me pityingly.

"I'm sorry. This is exactly what we're trying to stop. She's hurting you and you don't realize it. You even have to feel her pain."

"Do you know how many times she has unconsciously absorbed my nightmares? She doesn't just feel them, she experiences them. That's so much worse."

"Did she tell you that? She's a liar."

"Let me go down there." I said.

"No."

"Do you even see her?"

"She'll deal with it."

"Then I'll get in by myself."

She grabbed my wrist. "You're not going anywhere."

I glared at her and pulled away, walking out. She blocked the doorway and aimed an over at me but I disarmed her quickly and pushed past her.

I walked to the vault door and tested it, not opening. I tried kicking it, still not opening.

I know vibranium is heat proof so there's no point trying that. "JARVIS, unlock the door." I said.

"I am not allowed to do that."

"Just let me wake her up and then I'll leave. I won't even go in." I said.

"JARVIS, open the door." Uncle Steve said. I blinked at him as the door unlocked. Why he would do that I have no idea, but my guess is that even if he believes she's evil, he doesn't want her to be screaming the whole night.

I quickly ran down the stairs knowing I didn't have much time before everyone else came down. They wouldn't be as caring as Uncle Steve was.

And I know she most likely won't wake up. It takes a while to wake her up and even then that's when I'm right there, not separated by an invisible barrier. But I can't just let her stay asleep. That's just cruel.

Nightmares are the worst form of torture there is because they're so real and sometimes they're just memories, and it hurts having to relive those experiences. I would've thought she would stay awake, or try to. But then again, she had nothing to do to keep herself awake. Nobody to talk to, nothing. She hasn't eaten in a week, so it's not like she has any energy.

Seeing her in there, curled up and crying, made me want to forget what I promised and just let her out of there. But I don't have time right now and if I fail they'll never let me see her again.

"Red. You have to wake up." I said, hoping she would actually wake up. "You're okay, you're safe, just wake up." I said. Those are all lies because she's not safe here. Not by any means.

She stirred slightly. "No. You're not real." she said, not turning around. I know she's awake now. I can tell by how tensed she is.

"I'm real. I promise. And in probably never going to be allowed to see you again after this-" and then people came downstairs to stop me. Red turned around at this, her eyes wide.

Ava grabbed my shoulder, steering me away. I was surprised by how strong her grip was. I could've fought, but there's no point. It would achieve nothing. So I pulled away from her and walked upstairs, shouldering past everyone who was staring at me.

I know what's about to happen, so I went straight to the room where the live footage is playing. "Why was he down here?" Elliot demanded.

"I don't know." she said. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy, but other than that she looked strong. Confident. The way she looked at Mark Ronson when she was talking back to him. It's sad that she has to give the same defiant look to people who she used to consider family. Not that they aren't basically on the same level as the man who tortured her multiple times. If anything they're worse, because they betrayed her.

"Don't lie."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. I know you're all stupid, clearly, because I'm here when I didn't do anything, but really. You are the ones who built this cell to cater to my exact skill set. Don't you know I can't read minds down here?" she asked mockingly.

She was making them mad, and she has every right to.

"Jade, just stop. You've hurt everyone enough. Especially him. Don't mess with him like that. I'm sure you don't even have nightmares, that it's just another lie." Dianna said.

That made her snap. "Oh really? You don't think I have nightmares? My life is a nightmare. I was kidnapped and tortured for a month when I was 14. 14. You know what kind of damage that does Andrew. At the age of 14 your brain is still developing and any traumatic memories are even more ingrained than they would be if I had been older." she said, furious. "I have nightmares every time I go sleep. Every time I close my eyes. I'm covered in scars from head to toe. You don't even want to know some of the places I have scars and quite frankly, to show you those would be inappropriate. I have been through hell and what have you been through? High school drama?" she taunted. "None of you have any right to say that I don't have nightmares. I get that some of you have been through worse, but that doesn't mean I'm any less affected by it. And then, to top it all off, everyone thinks I'm evil. And that's my fault too right? Because I screwed everything up while trying to keep you guys alive and you throw me in a cell. And I would like to know who changed my clothes. And who thought they could stick needles in me. And I would like to punch the genius that thought it was a good idea to even suggest that I would hurt him while also saying I don't have nightmares when the worst thing she's been through is getting shot at." she said, her voice venomous. Then she laughed coldly. "I know, you all think I'm insane and evil. Too mentally unstable to be trusted. Well that's nothing new. You've always thought that. Do you think being a telepath is easy? Every negative thought people have about you just rings throughout your head. In some ways, you're just helping me out by taking it away. Believe me, you all have a hell of a lot of negative thoughts about me. Most of them saying I'm crazy, or I'm overreacting, or I'm over dramatic, or I'm dangerous. Maybe I'm all those things. But I'm not Hydra." she said, her voice eerily quiet.

"But I'm just a liar right?" she asked, leaning against the wall, almost casually. "I'm an evil, backstabbing liar who can't be trusted." she said. "So go on. Go back to sleep. Go enjoy your quiet nights that aren't filled with screams. Tell me what it feels like, would you? And whoever gets stuck watching me at night, I apologize for the inconvenience of having to hear me cry. That must hurt your ears." she mocked.

"Oh, yeah. And if any of you hurt him, I will find a way out of here, and I will kill you. Just saying, because I'm an evil sadist who loves to kill, right?" she said, grinning maniacally.

"You're insane." Uncle Tony muttered.

"No I'm not. You all could've muted me at any time, but instead you sat there listening, and now you'll be thinking about my words for the rest of the day. You'll try to decipher them and figure out what I meant and where I was half lying because Skye knows I haven't been lying this entire time, including when I said I'm not Hydra, and you all can't accept you were wrong."

"You're wrong. You can't manipulate us anymore." Naomi said, about to press a button.

"Juliana, I'm sorry. I know that doesn't mean anything to you, but I have to say it. I'm sorry for being a crappy sister and not being there for you when you needed it. I'm sorry that I let it get to the point where you were the first to believe this lie. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment. Jase- I'm sorry. For everything. But don't try to come down here again. Maybe this is for the best anyway. You can be happy without me dragging you down. -" I paused it there. I don't want to hear the rest of what she saying, because I'm not going to do what she says. But I'm not going to turn it off, because I don't know when the next time I'll be able to see her face will be.

But then I decided I should play it, as I at least owe her that. "Don't try to communicate with him." I heard the threat from Natalie. "He's not listening. And if he is, he won't believe a word you say, not after he finally accepts the truth. You keep trying to twist him with your words. Why don't you just stop."

"He is listening. Just for the record. I wouldn't talk to a camera unless I was sure someone was listening on the other end. I wouldn't want to look stupid." she said, another mocking statement. She knows how to rile people up and make them pissed off, that's for sure.

"Jason, go to sleep." My mom said.

"You don't get to tell him what to do." Red said.

"I'm his mother. What are you to him? Nothing. Not anymore." she replied. Not true, mom. Not sure where she got that idea from.

"You might be his mother, but you weren't there when he needed you. I was. Think whatever you want about me, that I'm Hydra, whatever, but none of you can deny that I have always been there for him and none of you have. Just because you gave birth to him doesn't mean you suddenly have these magical powers where he's going to love you regardless of all the stupid things you've done in the past. Although, he does love you. He's nice like that. I'm not though, right? Because I clearly don't love my parents." she said sarcastically, her comment hitting its mark. "I clearly don't give a damn about anybody but myself."

"You need to stop." Uncle Clint said. She nodded and shrugged.

"Okay. I have nothing more to say to you anyway. Good night." she said, then proceeded to lie down and pretend as if none of them were there, staring at her and trying to figure her out.

She turned her head towards everyone. "You know, watching people sleep is a little creepy guys."

"That's it. She's officially gone crazy." Robert muttered. Juliana was quiet, staring at her older sister calculatingly.

Everyone walked upstairs at that point and I raised my eyebrows as they flooded in the room.

"Now what the hell was that?" Uncle Tony asked, slamming his hands down on the round conference table.

"That was her making you all look like idiots." I replied helpfully. He glared at me.

"I'm starting to think you're a lost cause." he said.

"If what you're saying is that I'll never believe she's Hydra, then yeah, you're right." I agreed.

He sighed frustratedly. "Who let you down there? I know JARVIS didn't."

I'm not about to sell out the one person who helped me in the slightest today. He might not be on my side, but I'll take what I can get.

Luckily I didn't have to. "I did." Uncle Steve said. Everyone looked at the leader of the Avengers shocked. It was so unlike him. So unlike him to go against the collective decision of the group.

"Why would you do that?" Clint asked.

"Would any of you like to sit there watching your child screaming and crying, evil or not? I know none of us can do anything to wake her up, but he can, so I let him go. He would've gotten in by himself anyway. He's stubborn." he responded.

"Listen, I know this is hard for you. But she's hydra. We need to be careful around her. She was clearly trying to manipulate us downstairs, either that or she's gone insane, which I doubt." Skye said.

"You don't think I know that? But if we let her stay in those nightmares she'll just die from a lack of energy because it doesn't look like she intends on eating either." he said tiredly.

"You need to get your priorities straight." Uncle Tony said. "And you. You're not going down there ever again. J, don't let him, regardless of who says it's fine. You're not going down there until we can trust you."

"You've never been able to stop me before, and you won't be able to now. So good luck with that." I said.

"Why can't you just accept it?" Juliana demanded. "You make things so difficult for the rest of us." she said. "You know everything adds up. Rumlow knew exactly what she was going to do before she did it, and the only way for him to know that is if she told him or it was part of a plan. Even crossbones said it. And of course there's the fact she admitted it. It also makes sense as to why she knew Hydra's entire plan."

"Is that also why she told us their plan? She's a mind reader, of course she knows stuff none of us could possibly know." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Say whatever you like, you can't explain her writing Hail Hydra." she said, crossing her arms.

"We know how the future ends up, and that doesn't involve her in jail." I said.

"Actually, it's possible nobody had figured it out at that point. The triplets coming back in time caused you to get kidnapped which means Hydra could implant the bomb in you which sped up their plan meaning Jade could reveal herself sooner." Uncle Leo said.

I stayed silent at that. As much as I hate to admit it, it makes sense. It makes too much sense to be a coincidence.

I stared at the wall behind everyone, trying to figure this out. It doesn't makes sense, but it does make sense. I don't want to believe it. I really don't.

I looked at them. "Fine. I believe it. Are you happy now?" I asked, walking out.

(TONY POV)

I feel terrible. It's not our fault the kid had too much faith in her, but the way he looked when he finally came to terms with it was unsettling at best, numbing at worst.

He looked shattered, like his whole world had fallen apart. To be honest, that's how it actually was. It's why he had such a difficult time accepting it.

I envy his innocence, because the rest of us have been through betrayal enough to learn to accept it and move on. He, while he's been through a lot, hasn't dealt with this before, and certainly not on this level.

And that makes me hate Jade even more. The look on Steve's face when she was talking to us, how Natasha was trying to hide her sadness, how Juliana just looked cold. And most of all how Jason believed every word she said.

"Poor kid." Clint muttered, voicing my thoughts.

"You know he's not going to be the same after this, right? This ruined him." Natalie said, visible angry.

"Why did we never see it coming? It just- we trusted her so easily. Because she was family. But I guess that meant nothing to her." Juliana said.

"I'm not sure I believe she's Hydra. Not entirely. She's not hiding her memories from me, they're being blocked by an outside source. And besides, all her mental powers are gone at the moment. And then there's the fact that she confessed, revealed a camera, and then denied it all. Either she's impossibly good at lying, or she's not. With the whole camera situation, it's not like she had just noticed it. She never looked up once and she wouldn't have been able to see it from that angle anyway. She could've been waiting to mention it as Rumlow predicted, but when would she have gotten in contact with him to learn the plan? Jason had been with her the entire time. It just seems too perfect. I almost think it was a Hydra scheme to get her out of the way." Agent X said.

"You're the last person we expected to be defending her."

"I hate her for hurting my son, but that doesn't mean I'm cruel." she said, also walking out.

"How are you two holding up?" Coulson asked Steve and Natasha.

"We're fine." Natasha muttered.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Steve asked dryly.

(THREE DAYS LATER, NATASHA POV)

"We're not getting anything out of her." Skye said, annoyed. "We've tried everything."

"Not everything." Clint said.

"No. We're not doing that." I interjected.

"I wasn't suggesting it." he responded.

"Let me go down there. I think I can get her to talk." Ava said.

"You won't be able to. You can try, but it won't work." Jason said, appearing out of nowhere. His appearances have been few and far between, and any time he's around, he's gone as quickly as he arrived.

"Let Ava go first. Then you go down. If anyone can do it, you can." Tony told him.

He shrugged. "Fine." he said. Ava nodded tensely and went down there. Talking to her is mentally trying.

I haven't gone down there because I don't think I can without letting my emotions get the best of me. I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I haven't had to because nobody has asked.

Steve went down there once. She refused to even speak to him. She was clearly shaken up afterwards, but I'm guessing that was an act.

Juliana went to talk to her and she cried. They both did. And it hurts, to have to watch that. Juliana was the last person I expected to be as angry as she is. She cried quite a bit, but they were angry tears. I'm dreading when she'll start to cry sad tears. When it finally settles in.

Jade has nightmares every time she attempts to sleep, but that isn't often. Nobody tried waking her up this time. She hasn't eaten and there are 9 plates of food completely untouched, lined up against the wall. She's been keeping in shape, doing sit ups and pushups and lunges. Probably because she's bored, although I know everyone else is concerned she has an escape plan.

Chances are she does, but I know she can't escape. She can plan all she wants but there's no way she can get out.

Jade turned to face Ava. "What personal grudge do you hold against me?" she asked, appearing bored.

"Why would you ask that?" Ava asked in return.

"You're all just coming down here and whining about all the problems I've caused you." she said, rolling her eyes. The lighting was casting shadows, making her eyes look shadowed. She has Steve's hooded eyes. She was wearing plain gray clothes because her other clothes had been too bloody.

"Well, you've certainly caused a lot of problems." Ava said. "Do you feel guilty? I've always wanted to hear a psychopath's justifications for their actions." she said.

Jade didn't even flinch. She just smirked. "I don't really think I'm a psychopath. I don't have any mental diseases, in fact, I like to think my mental abilities are . . . Heightened, if you know what I mean."

"Well, you're completely normal while you're in here." Ava said. "I wouldn't count on any of your powers you were handed on a silver platter."

"I could still kill you in many ways without my powers. I could strangle you with my bare hands. I was born that way, actually. Does that sound psychotic to you?" she asked, grinning. "And you're hardly one to talk. All your abilities were given to you by Hydra. You couldn't even help your brother keep you alive before that." she said. My eyes widened. How did she- of course, telepath.

Ava, someone who does have slight anger issues, looked like she wanted to hurt her at this point. "How did you know about that?" she demanded, quickly losing her cool.

"I can also see the future. When I saw you coming I wanted to know if you could be trusted so I looked in my dad's memories. The most prominent memory he has if you is you telling him about that. It was an accident." she said.

Ava grit her teeth. "Do you even regret any of it? You're the reason Thomas is dead. And Johnny could've been dead."

Jade sighed and rolled her eyes. "Here we go again with the complaining." she muttered.

Ava apparently had enough because she took down the barrier and attacked her.

Jade smirked and fought back, clearly enjoying this. I'm starting to think she is actually psychotic.

I saw Jason leave out of the corner of my eye and I went to follow them when Tony grabbed my arm. "No. Let him go. He can handle this. If anything, the fact he's not on her side will shock her enough to slow her down. We can ice her and it'll be fine." he said.

"Fine." I said.

(JADE POV)

I know what I'm acting like, but I assume I'm never getting out of here and figure it only serves them right if I act like like a brat and rub salt in all their wounds. That's all they've been doing since I've been in here.

And I know that they convinced Jason too. If not he would've found a way to come down here. It hurts. But that's too bad for me because I can't show weakness. I have to hide it because I know I'm under surveillance 24/7 and showing any signs of weakness will make them think they're making progress.

I did cry once. When Juliana came down here and started yelling at me. But it doesn't change anything. Now Ava is fighting me but this is easy. I don't want to hurt her, but if she hurts me I'll have no choice. I wasn't kidding when I said I could kill her without my powers in many ways.

But I want my powers back. I clicked. A button very quickly in passing so no one would notice. Suddenly all the thoughts came rushing to my head.

All her thoughts. It was now easy to take her out, being able to be one step ahead of her. I pinned her down to the floor, stealing her weapons. I grabbed her gun while facing away from the camera. To be specific, I stuffed it in my bra. Don't ask. I've hid many things there before. Again, you don't even want to know. It's efficient, it was away from cameras, and nobody can even take it from me because if they're wrong that's just plain awkward.

"Give me the gun." I heard Jason say from behind me. His tone was harsh and cold and I know for a fact I can't beat him. Not without hurting him and he probably has no problems with hurting me. That puts him at an advantage. I decided I can mess with him enough to stall him. I certainly know him enough.

I got up and turned around slowly, looking at him. "You look tired. You haven't been getting much sleep, have you?" I asked. He didn't respond. I smiled wryly. "Me neither."

"I guess you must really be Hydra if this doesn't even affect you. I had my doubts until now." he said. I had almost forgot he knows exactly how to mess with me too.

"Just because I'm not caring towards to people who so graciously betrayed me doesn't make me Hydra." I replied.

"We betrayed you?" he asked, laughing coldly.

"I know you have trust issues, but really. When have I ever lied to you?"

"Oh I don't know, for the last 4 years?" he spat.

"I meant that you had proof of." I replied, pretending to be annoyed.

"I have plenty of proof. Give me the gun." he said.

"And if I don't? You're not going to take it from me." I said, smirking.

He raised his eyebrows. "Who told you that?"

I grinned. "You're cute. But I know you're bluffing."

I could sense Ava awakening behind me. Now's my chance. I pressed the button to close myself back in the cell right before they both attacked. They stared at me, trying to figure me out.

"Why would you do that?" Jason asked.

"I'm not Hydra. By running it would just make you believe that I am even more." I said, taking a seat.

"Hand over the gun." Jason repeated.

"See, here's the thing. I'm kind of sick of being in here. If I see a second opportunity to get out, I will take it. And I will knock you out in the process if I must. It's best if you let me keep the gun and you leave." I replied, staring at them blankly.

"You can't take both of us." Jason said.

"You want to bet? I have no reservations about hurting you this time, as you certainly won't hesitate to kill me." I said.

"And this is why we think you're hydra." Ava muttered.

"It's called self defense." I said. "And I never thought I'd have a need for it against you, but oh well. That's how life is. People betray you. But it's okay. You tell them my secrets, I will tell yours. And everyone will hear it because I know they're all congregated upstairs watching this."

"You talk about us betraying you, but even now, you're talking about betraying us." he said. "It's a little contradictory."

"Jason, what we had was called a relationship. You know that word? Yeah, it means that it's two way. I told you many things and you also told me many things. All I'm saying is that if you betray my trust again, I won't bother trying to hide your secrets. It's not like you trust me anyway." I said. And that's when it went dark. They made the barrier opaque. I'm cool with that.

I never thought he would believe it. I really didn't. But looking at his face, it's clear it's not an act. He hates me. But two can play that game. Hell, I can make him so uncomfortable in so many different ways. I know what gets under his skin. I know how to manipulate him.

If he wants to be this way, then the least I can do is make it hard for him.

He forgot one thing. I still have my powers. I looked up at the camera and winked at it before telekinetically pointing it at the wall so they can't see anything. The other cameras are still working. I just want to mess with them.

If they think I'm psychotic, well, I guess I can use that to my advantage.


	29. Psychotic

**HELLO EVERYONE I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT. I've been actively writing for all my stories, I just haven't had time to post them because I'm writing in the car, on the bus, at school- basically everywhere where it'll be difficult to post. Anyway, the story is almost done! 3-4 more chapters left. The whole thing is written out I'm just not sure how I'll space the chapters yet. Anywho, enjoy! :)**

(STEVE POV)

We saw one of the cameras go black, but she has a gun with her. We're assuming she shot it from an angle we couldn't see. Honestly, who knows at this point?

She's dangerous and manipulative. Now that Jason believes it it's a little easier, but even he couldn't get much more out of her. And I know that she'll know, telepathy or not, the minute Jason tells us any of her secrets.

And I also know she'll tell his just as fast. She's lying there, taking deep breaths, inhaling for 10 beats, exhaling for 10. I don't know why, but chances are she's trying to calm herself.

There are still cameras where we can see her from. She just shut down the one that shows the toilet. Figures.

I guess there's no harm in her doing that. She can get her minutes of privacy. She's not eating or drinking anything, so I doubt she'll even have to use it.

"Captain Rogers." I heard a voice from behind me.

I turned around. "Fury. What are you doing here?"

"I need her and Smith on a mission." he said.

"She's Hydra." I said.

"That why I need her. And then Jason because he's the only one who can keep her under control. Besides, the public knows they're together. It'll be easier if they get caught undercover."

"What's the mission?"

"I don't like repeating myself. Get everyone else over here." he said. I gave him a look.

"JARVIS, can you-"

"It's already done."

"Thanks." I said. A few minutes later everyone was in the room.

"Fury." Natasha greeted.

"Hello Romanoff. I need Jason and Jade on a mission together."

"You are aware that she's evil, right?" Simmons asked.

"Of course I am. But she's the only one that can do it. And she'll be willing to as well, because it means a chance for her escape. But he will not let her. That's why I need them. They've worked together well in the past, and they're still capable of it now." he said.

"What do you need us to do?" Jason asked.

"It's a retrieval mission. You need to retrieve an 0-8-4 Hydra stole during the takeover from their only standing base and take it down afterwards. In addition, I want you to bring in Aaron Rumlow. He escaped from the bus, as you know. He's currently at that base." he said.

Jason nodded. "Okay."

"Do you think you can handle her?" Clint asked.

"Yeah." was all he replied.

"Good. If you don't mind, I'm going to go tell her myself." Fury said, although his tone made it clear he didn't care if anyone minded.

(JADE POV)

When I saw Fury, I knew something was up. When he turned off the cameras, I knew something big was about to happen. "Why are you here?" I asked, although I already know.

"I know you're not Hydra." he said. "They wouldn't believe me if I told them, so I'm giving you a chance to prove it. One chance, and if you mess it up, then I can't help you anymore."

"I'm listening."

"You and Jason are going on a simple mission, to retrieve. You're retrieving an 0-8-4 from the last standing Hydra base, bringing in Aaron Rumlow, and then blowing up the base." he said.

"Okay then. What's the catch?"

"You will be wearing a bracelet which will double as an inhibitor. SHIELD resources are low after this, and so you'll be traveling through normal methods. You will not have a quinjet although you will be provided a car. You'll be undercover for a great deal of time, as this Hydra base is in Moscow." he said. He turned the camera back on. "Jason, come down here."

Jason came downstairs, but so did Uncle Clint. Fury explained to them the entirety of the mission. I know Uncle Clint is mad at me because of Aunt Laura's death. I hate it too. I wish it never happened. But I didn't kill her.

Fury was about to press the button to open my cell, but Uncle Clint interjected. "Wait." he said. Then he pressed a different button and a metal arm came out of the wall and grabbed my arm. I could feel the flashbacks pouring in and I couldn't hold it back.

The panic was settling in and I was having a hard time breathing. I'm assuming they don't know why I'm reacting like this. I focused on taking deep breaths. Trying to control the panic instead of letting it control me. But then I glanced at the metal arm and then back at Uncle Clint and Jason and I began to get angry. I pulled the gun out and shot the metal, causing it to weaken and I snapped it off, leaving a metal cuff around my arm. I used my other hand to pry it off and glared at them. "I can't believe you." I said. I looked at my former boyfriend. "You of all people know that was a bad idea."

"That's the point." he said. I was about to go crazy, but then I realized something. There are so many better ways to get back at him for this. And I'll have so many opportunities to implement them later. So instead I just smiled.

"Touché." I said, putting my gun back. "Will I be getting different clothes? Because I feel like walking around in these will draw unwanted attention." I said.

"You'll be allowed to pack five outfits. He will watch you pack them." Fury said, opening the cell. I walked out.

"Will he also be watching me change?" I asked sarcastically, walking up the stairs. I entered my room, or, my old room I guess. I grabbed the tightest fitting clothes I had, considering I've lost weight and anything else would be too baggy. I grabbed 5 different pairs of shoes, because he said 5 outfits, which means I can pack every element of the outfit. Really, I'm just looking for things to tick Jason off. And would you look at that, it's working.

"Do you really need 5 pairs of shoes?" he asked.

"Yes."

I telekinetically stuffed my microbombs, icers, and my personal widow bites into my clothes while they were in the drawers so that he wouldn't notice me putting them in bags. He walked over as I opened the third drawer and grabbed my gun out of it. I smiled and grabbed one of his shirts that was sitting in my drawer and packed that as well. I can practically feel him twitching in annoyance.

"Oh, did you want that back?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and didn't answer. "Change quickly." he said as I walked into the closet.

"You're not going to come in there too?" I asked. "You've seen it all before." I said, grinning, before shutting the door. I changed agonizingly slowly, again, just to piss him off.

"Are you almost done?" he asked.

"No." I replied.

"What's taking so long?"

"Have you ever had to hook a bra with three hooks?" I demanded. Silence from the other side of the door. "That's what I thought. All you've done is unhook them." I muttered the last part, loud enough so he could still hear it.

I walked out, grabbing my makeup bag and stuffing it in there. "You don't need makeup." he said.

"I don't know if you noticed, but it's summer. That means walking around in long sleeves isn't acceptable. So I need concealer. And have you seen these dark circles?" I asked.

"So bring the concealer. What else do you even need?" he asked, knowing I've never been one for too much makeup before.

"Why are you so snippy? I never knew you were one of those guys that had something against women wearing makeup. Geez. It's our personal decision. It's way past the days of the patriarchy Jason. Please, get with the times." I said, rolling my eyes.

He rolled his eyes back at me but didn't say anything else. We had walked all the way downstairs when I stopped. "Oh! I forgot socks!" I said.

"You didn't bring shoes that need socks." he said.

"Just in case." I insisted walking back upstairs.

He grabbed my arm and I looked back at him. "I know you're trying to irritate me, but this will go a lot more smoothly if you don't."

"And I know you want to hurt me, but this'll go a lot more smoothly if you don't." I replied, smiling and pulling my arm away.

I went back into my room and grabbed more stuff. I then pulled out a gun but he quickly had me pinned against the wall with my hand above me that was holding the gun.

I grinned. "There aren't any bullets." I said, dropping it. He glared at me, really annoyed now. I put the gun back where I got it from.

"Did you seriously just do that to annoy me? You aren't even going to bring it?" he asked.

"Yes Jason. Please try to keep up." I said condescendingly.

"You're so aggravating." he muttered.

"Thanks." I replied. I went into the bathroom and shuffled around in the cabinets.

I grabbed a bunch of pads and tampons, then had a brilliant idea. Why not 'forget' them so we have to make a pit stop later? Oh that's brilliant. He probably will have to come with me as well because he won't let me out of his sight. I'm a genius.

I grabbed one and shoved it in my bra just in case, because I wouldn't want this to backfire on me. I shouldn't get my period any time during this mission, but who knows. Mine are irregular. That tends to happen when your DNA is messed with. Your hormones go crazy.

"Didn't you just have your period two weeks ago?" he asked.

"You're a guy. Don't question my period struggles." I said.

"I had to go buy you pads. I'm allowed to question it."

"I've had to do this every month for 7 days since I was 11. I think my situation is slightly worse." I said sarcastically.

"Just hurry up." he said. I smiled and slammed the door in his face.

I locked the door and he won't come in because that's just weird. I'm not going to be using the toilet though. I climbed on top of it and pushed away the ceiling tile. I grabbed my emergency supply kit that shrinks into the size of a quarter. I put that also in my bra, because if they find that in my pocket it'll be bad.

I flushed the toilet and washed my hands, giving the impression that I had used it.

I walked out and smiled at him. "Let's go." I said.

"You're sure you have everything?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Of course! You know me. I don't forget anything." I said, winking. He was seething now.

We walked downstairs and people spoke to Jason in hushed tones but I know what they were saying. I think they forget I'm a super soldier.

I looked at everyone. "Jade, do not try anything. Even if you manage to escape, we'll find you. And then, we'll end you." Uncle Tony threatened.

I smirked. "Good luck!" I said cheerfully. Jason snapped a bracelet on my wrist. It's also in inhibitor. Well that's fun. It doesn't matter, I don't need telepathy to know what he's thinking.

"How sweet of you. You got me a present." I said dryly. He rolled his eyes. "You know it doesn't matter. Your powers don't work on me anyway, so we're at a standstill. And I don't need telepathy to know what you're thinking. Perks of knowing you for 18 years." I said, grinning.

He stared at the ceiling for a few moments. "Let's just go." he said, terribly annoyed.

We got to the car and I got in the passenger's seat while he got in the drivers seat. "Can I drive?" I asked.

"Oh hell no."

"Why not?" I asked innocently.

"One, you're evil. Two, you're reckless." he said, starting the car.

"I'm not reckless when I'm not distracted." I said.

He gave me a look that tells me he knows exactly what I meant and doesn't give a damn.

We drove for about an hour before we got to the airport. Fury booked us first class seats. Except he booked us as a couple. Great. This airline had mini apartments basically for first class. You get a full size bed with a shower and personal kitchenette. But since he booked us as a couple, we get one of those instead of two. Well that's fun. We walked inside of the airport and made our way through customs quickly with our SHIELD badges. I had yet to be listed as a terrorist, so there's that.

Once we were through he looked at me. "We have 2 hours until our flight. Our luggage is checked in and we have our boarding passes so we have free time." he said.

"Fun." I muttered. "I get to spend time with you." I said sarcastically.

"It's not like I'm that excited to spend time with you either." he muttered. I could hear the people talking at him through his earpiece.

I know he has a camera in his eye so they can all see me.

"Jade!" I heard someone calling my name. I looked over and saw my old friend Zoe smiling at me.

"Hi Zoe!" I said, getting up. Jason gave me a look. "I'll be right back. I can't just not talk to her."

"Yes you can." he replied. I rolled my eyes and walked away anyway. He wouldn't try to stop me, not in an airport.

"That's a really pretty bracelet." she said.

"Thanks. It's a gift from an ex." I replied, knowing Jason can hear our conversation.

"Why do you still wear it?" she asked, laughing.

"I like to rub it in his face that he spent so much money and time on me when he didn't have to and then stabbed me in the back so really I ended up better off." I said.

She laughed. "So you are on bad terms then?"

"Oh yeah. He's a jerk. Annoying as hell. A little stalkerish too." I said.

"Wow. Is that your new boyfriend? Doesn't he feel awkward with you talking about you ex?" she asked.

I laughed. "Oh no, that is my ex. We were forced to go on a trip together for work." I said.

"Ouch. Good luck." she said.

"I'm going to need it." I replied. "Hopefully he heard this conversation." I said, grinning.

"You're evil." she said, laughing.

"You have no idea." I heard Jason mutter to himself.

"So where are you headed?" I asked.

"India. I have a crossover flight in Amsterdam." she said.

"Oh. We have a crossover in Amsterdam as well. We're heading to Russia after that though." I said.

"Sounds fun." she said.

"It would be, if I wasn't traveling with him. You see, a few months ago, I wouldn't have a problem having that first class suite to ourselves for many hours, but then he turned out to be just like the rest of them. I've been trying to get on his nerves this whole trip just to annoy him." I said.

"See, this is why we're friends. Anyway, I have to go. I'm meeting a friend in a few minutes. I'll talk to you later. Keep in touch!"

"Definitely. It was nice seeing you Zoe." I said.

"Same here. Bye!"

"Bye!" I replied, walking back to my annoying travel mate.

"I'm not the backstabbing one." he said.

"That's cute." I replied, leaning back and crossing my legs, popping a piece of gum in my mouth.

"Why are you doing this? It's not accomplishing anything." he asked after a few minutes, turning to face me.

"There is only so much revenge I can take on you right now. I'm just doing what's expected of me. Being evil." I said, popping my bubble gum in his face. He didn't even blink.

(JASON POV)

She's so annoying. Oh my god. I know she's doing it on purpose but I can't do this anymore. I'm going to rip my hair out.

I might attack her if she keeps this up. And I really don't want to do that.

But the thing is, this is so like her. She's still the same person, even after we find out she's hydra. Her personality wasn't a lie. If anything, the rest of us have changed more than she has.

Everyone else thinks she's acting psychotic, but she's just avoiding all the questions and getting answers for herself. And she disguised her tactics. And they're right, she is manipulative. She manages to rub salt in everyone's wounds without even trying. And when they try to do the same to her, she brushes it off like no big deal.

It's annoying, just how good she is at what she does. And it's also annoying, how she knows how to get under my skin. I wish she didn't and I wish it wasn't working but it is.

A part of me still wants to believe she's not Hydra. If someone were to give me proof right now that she's good and not evil, I would believe it in a heartbeat. So her saying that I betrayed her- I know that it's the other way around, but a part of me wonders if she's right. If we're all the bad guys in this situation, falsely imprisoning her.

I found it ironic that she called me annoying. She did that on purpose no doubt about it. And I never in a billion years thought I would hear her call me her ex. It's funny how things work out that way.

"Jason. Where is she?" Elliot asked me over the comms.

"Bathroom."

"She's been in there for a while."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Good point. Wait for a little while longer." Uncle Steve said.

Sure enough, she came out right that minute. "Why'd you take so long?" I asked.

She looked offended. "Are you seriously asking me that question? I thought your mother taught you better than that." she said, shaking her head. That's low Jade. Really low. Insulting my mom and me in the same sentence? Jeez.

"We have to get on the flight now." I muttered, grabbing her hand. Not because I want to, but because it would be so easy for her to slip away when we're boarding and never get on the flight.

Then she did something I wasn't expecting. She interlocked our fingers and when I looked at her questioningly she winked. "Old habits." she said.

I rolled my eyes. She's like that annoying little kid that bugs you to get revenge.

She laughed. "I find that offensive." she said, as though she could read my mind. I looked at her wrist and the bracelet was still there. I narrowed my eyes at her and she grinned.

"Relax. I was just guessing that you were thinking something negative about me. It was fun to see your panic though. Are you really that scared of me?" she asked.

I glared at her and didn't give an answer. "She's officially crazy." Tanner said.

"I don't understand her." Naomi said.

"Has she always been like this?" Elliot asked.

"I think it's entertaining." Alana said cheerfully.

"I think it's psychotic." Dianna muttered.

There's that word again. Psychotic. She is most definitely not psychotic. All her actions and words are calculated to make the most impact.

"We are boarding first class passengers at this time."

"You two are first class?" They asked.

"Yes." Jade said, raising her eyebrows, daring the man to question her.

"Do you have legal guardians?"

"Did you not see our passports? We don't need legal guardians. Besides, we're government agents." she said nonchalantly, pulling out her badge.

"Sorry miss. Go ahead." he said. She smiled and moved past him.

"You know you could've handled that better." I said.

"No. You could've handled that better. But you didn't, so sucks to be you." she said, pushing past me and walking into the suite. She's unbelievable.

We got in and I locked the door. "Try to get some sleep." I said.

She rolled her eyes. "You know that's not going to happen."

"And you know I don't care." I replied.

"You're not going to get any sleep either." she said, looking at me. "Don't try. It'll raise suspicion."

"I wasn't planning on it." I said, staring back.

"Good." she said, stepping forward. "At least I know you still have some brains left in there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were the last person I expected to believe this BS. You know I'm not Hydra. I know you do, deep down."

"Jason, don't listen to her." My dad warned. I took out the earpiece and turned it off. I also took the camera out of my eye. I want to hear this.

"Every single scar I have came from Hydra. All of them except for this one." she said, actually getting angry, pointing at a faint scar on her arm. "This came from you. Well, you were under mind control by Charlie who was brainwashed by Hydra. And that could've been me, so why would you think that I'm Hydra?"

"You confessed it." I replied.

"What kind of lie is that? Did they tell you that?"

"Jade. They weren't even there. They were watching from the camera, when we were underwater." I said. Something is going on here, and I don't like it.

"There was a camera?! Why didn't we notice it?"

"You did. You wrote on a paper that there's a camera and the location of it, then wrote p.s. Hail hydra." I said.

"No I didn't." she denied.

"Yes you did. You wrote it in your own blood." I said. "And Rumlow knew you were going to write it. He told them exactly what you were going to say before you said it." I said.

She shook her head. "I swear, I have no idea-"

I cut her off. "Don't. I'm done with your lies." I said, shaking my head.

"And I'm done with your lack of faith. I have never lied to you. Not once. We were together for 6 years, and we were best friends for 18, and I never lied to you once. And then you go and believe this freaking BS that was probably some big lie conjured up by Hydra to put me in a cell just for kicks because they haven't already screwed with my life enough." she said, angry. I put my earpiece back in and turned it on, then out my camera back in my eye.

"Do you remember that vision you had? Of our future daughter telling you you're a monster and that she hates you?" I asked.

All the color drained from her face. "Of course I do." she said.

"The only explanation I can think of is that she found out you were Hydra. Uncle Leo explained it. When the triplets came back in time, it changed the timeline, causing me to get kidnapped. That meant Hydra could put the bomb in me, and that sped up their plan, meaning you could reveal yourself sooner. Last time Hydra was taken down it took 70 years for them to come back. It took closer to 30 this time around, because of that. Based on the timeline, that future daughter would've been around 16, 34 years from now. That means in the other timeline it would've taken Hydra 64 years to come back. Seems about right." I said.

She glared at me. "You want to know the nightmare I had, that night you came down to wake me up?" she asked. "It was a continuation of that vision, actually. For whatever reason she was shocked that I had killed somebody when we were running away from, guess who? Hydra. She was yelling at me because I had shot a gun and killed. Not because I was Hydra. And I can't believe you would tell everyone about that. I could tell them about all your nightmares too, but I don't. I could've done it all. And I'm Hydra right? It's what you expected from me, RIGHT?" she said.

"Do not give in." I heard the instructions from the other side.

"She's dangerous."

"She's manipulative."

"They're right." Jade said, referring to everyone back at the tower. "I am dangerous. I am manipulative. It's what spies do. Your mom is very manipulative. My mom is manipulative. Uncle Phil is manipulative. Don't even get me started on Aunt Mel. Uncle Andrew makes money off of being manipulative. And every single person over there talking in your ear is dangerous. You're dangerous. But you guys aren't Hydra." she spat, rolling her eyes. "I'm done trying to reason with you. Do whatever you want. You're all idiots."

At least she's not being annoying as hell right now. We're standing close to one another, but it's uncomfortable. That discomfort is totally foreign to me. We've never kept our distance and we've never been uncomfortable around each other. But that's what happens when one person turns evil out of nowhere.

She stared up at me defiantly, daring me to say something back. But I have nothing to say to her that I haven't said before. She's a liar. I have to keep telling myself that or I'll cave.

I can't fall into that trap again. It makes me so angry that for so long I trusted her with my life. Now, I can't trust a single word she says.

A part of me wonders still if she's not lying. If we're the ones who are wronging her. And if we are, then she'll never trust any of us again. Not after this. If we end up being wrong about her, she'll run and we won't find her. If we're wrong, then there's no going back.

But I guess that's a risk I'll have to take. Whether we're right or wrong, there is no us. Never again. I ruined that the minute I started believing it.

She ruined it first though. By simply being Hydra. I have to remember that. I can't doubt it or she'll get the best of me. I can't let that happen again.

I just can't.


	30. The Truth

**Next Chapter! Not much to say about this one, but here ya go! Enjoy! :)**

(JADE POV)

I sat on the side of the bed, facing away from him. I'm pissed off now. I can't believe he would tell everyone about that. And it was deliberate too. He turned on his earpiece before saying it.

I have never been this mad at him. I need to punch something. Oh wait, I can't do that.

I know he's looking at me. I can feel him staring at me. And I don't care. He doesn't regret what he said. Nobody else regrets him telling them. They don't regret anything but I regret trusting them.

One thing surprised me though. Fury. I know he's a good person. Maybe not nice, and maybe he doesn't look at the little things, but he always looks at the bigger picture. And this whole situation made me realize that in most of the situations where I wanted to punch him in the face, he was right. Although I'll never admit that to him.

He understood that the people you care about are more often than not, temporary. And that you sometimes have to decide if that temporary relationship is worth other people's lives. He understood that sacrifices had to be made.

I'm sure he also understood the position I was in at the time, but he probably didn't give a damn. I can admire that. I can see why my mom looks up to him so much.

My mom. Hm. I know her backstory. Of course I do. She'd always been good, even when she was bad; everyone knew that except for herself. I suppose I'm in the same situation, except nobody knows it except for me and Fury.

Their words sting. I've been ignoring it for days. But I'm done. And I have a plan. I composed myself quickly, placing a smirk on my face.

I turned around and looked at him. "We're going to be on planes for 19 hours. You should get some sleep." I said.

"Yeah, so you can kill me in my sleep? No thanks."

"I'm offended that you have such little faith in me." I said.

He turned off his earpiece. "I know you brought weapons. Consider yourself lucky I have as much faith in you as I do, otherwise you would be cuffed to a chair right now." he said.

I tilted my head. "I didn't bring weapons. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" he asked in response. "I may not have noticed it but I know you better than that. Of course you brought weapons. If I searched your suitcase I know I would find some micro bombs, probably your widow bites. Maybe an icer." he said. I'm not surprised that he's spot on.

"Why didn't you take them?"

"Because you're not going to kill me with those." he said. "None of them are lethal. If anything, it'll make you more helpful when we get to the hydra base."

"How do you know I don't have a gun on me?" I asked, smirking. "You know I have places to hide it. I could shoot you right now." I said.

He smirked back. "But you won't." he said. "And besides, there's no gun in your usual hiding place." he said, glancing there purposefully. I grinned. He's playing the game now. I can do this.

(LATER)

He did end up falling asleep. Not on purpose of course, but I know he's probably been up for a week, same as me. Our one night of sleep was interrupted by Hydra agents storming the room and attacking.

I've been staying up too, but I forced myself to stay awake for just a little while more. I searched him for the remote that turns off my powers. I need them for this.

I ended up finding it in the waistband of his jeans. Makes sense. He knows I would've been able to take it in an instant if it was in his pocket.

I turned off the inhibitor and grinned as I felt my powers returning to me. I took out the earpiece telekinetically so I wouldn't have to touch him anymore. Reduces the chance of him waking up. Then I checked to see who was on the other line.

It's night over there, and everyone is sleeping except for my mom and his mom, who are watching over the videos of my interrogations, seeing what they could pick up.

I put the earpiece in my ear. "Hello." I said.

"What are you doing?" My mom snapped. "Where is Jason?"

"He fell asleep. He didn't mean to. But don't worry, I don't have any intentions of hurting him. And I know, out of everyone, you two have the most doubts about me being Hydra." I said.

"Put one of the extra eye cameras on." His mom said.

I did. "Look at him. You happy now? He's asleep. Now here's the deal. I'm not Hydra. I'm not evil. Agent X, you would be able to prove that. All I'm asking is that you figure out who's blocking my memories from you. There's nothing for you to lose from that. Once you can see my memories, you can either lock me up for the rest of my life, or you'll see I'm telling the truth and you'll let me go." I said.

"What do you have to gain from this?"

I laughed. "My freedom." I said.

"If this is some kind of trap-"

"I'm on my way to Moscow now. I can hardly do anything to you from here." I said. I turned my gaze to Jason. "And I want you to know. I will never hurt him. I will never hurt any of you. I know you all blame me for the deaths that have happened. And I'm sorry. Okay? I'm so sorry about it. But I had no control over it. I was unconscious. And I know, that if I had been smarter, or faster, or- if I had been better, Aunt Laura and Thomas would still be alive. So, in many ways, it is my fault. And I did know they were going to die. I had a vision. But then I had the vision of waking up in a cell, and I couldn't trust you. I can never trust any of you. I just want you to know that I'm really really sorry." I said, my voice breaking by the end of it. I glared at the wall, trying to compose myself.

It was silent for a few moments. "Then why do you want us to know that you're not Hydra? You could run away now. There's nothing stopping you." Mom said.

Because I still want to be happy and normal and pretend this never happened. Because I want my parents to love me again. Because I want my sister to trust me. Because I want my life back. Because I want what I had in the other timeline. I want my boyfriend back. I want what I'm never going to have. "Because I can go under the radar without anyone searching for me and stay away from you all so you never have to see my face or be put in danger by me again." I lied. Saying the truth would only make me look weak.

"I'll see what I can do." His mom said quietly. "But know. We don't trust you." I took out my eye camera.

"Yeah. I know." I replied, I took the earpiece out and stuck it back in Jason's ear. Then I looked at him.

His sleep isn't peaceful at the moment. But I'm mad at him. Let him stay asleep. Living in a nightmare. He didn't give a damn when he was watching me suffer through mine.

I turned off my powers and returned the remote to its original position. Then I laid down next to him, keeping my distance, and closed my eyes. He won't hurt me. I did what I have to do. And if I wake up screaming, he'll handle it. Because I'm evil right?

My thoughts are so bitter. I hate it. I wish they weren't. Even if they end up believing I'm not Hydra, I can't stay there. I'll have to leave. I don't think they can forgive me for all the terrible things that happened because of me. I don't think I can forgive myself.

I always thought that Jason would never believe it. But I was wrong. Just like I always am. I don't think anyone understands how much I have to control myself every time he calls me by my name. That's pathetic. It's so pathetic that that triggers flashbacks and panic attacks. It shouldn't.

I have to control myself and keep the panic at bay. Then I can prove to everyone that I'm not evil. And then, I can leave and never come back. I can deal with my panic attacks and the nightmares on my own. And if worst comes to worst, I'll just end it. I've never been more open to the idea.

(LATER)

I woke up a few hours later, not feeling entirely well rested, but I can't go back to sleep.

"You slept well." Jason said. I snapped my head over to see him packing everything back up. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his hair was wet, so I'm assuming he showered.

"Yeah. Well. That's the word I'd use." I muttered. "You were knocked out."

"I shouldn't have been." he replied.

"I didn't kill you. Surprised?" I asked, grinning. He glanced at me.

"Nope. You wouldn't kill me in my sleep. That's not your style."

"Then what is?" I asked.

"A knife in the back." he replied.

I hissed. "Ouch." I said. He rolled his eyes and I smirked. "Are you planning to put on a shirt?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Do you mind?" he responded.

"What if I do?"

"Then I'll put on a shirt."

"Good. Because I don't." I said.

"Are you going to take a shower?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I would like to, because I haven't had a chance to in days, but you would probably have to watch me do that too." I said.

"You're infuriating."

"You're aggravating."

"Well that's too bad, because you have to deal with it. Just be glad I'm giving you the option."

"You think you could stop me?"

"You don't have your powers and I do. So yeah." He said.

"Oh I know you're physically capable of it. But you can't hurt me. You've never been able to." I said.

"That was different. I didn't know you were evil."

"I would say I'm not evil, but you wouldn't believe me."

"For good reason." he said. After a few moments of silence he spoke again. "Tell me, when did you become Hydra?"

"I didn't." I replied.

He glared at me. "Seriously? You can't even answer the damn question. That's all I'm asking you." he said.

"I can't answer the question because there is no answer."

"You're such a liar." he muttered.

"You're lying to yourself." I replied. "Tell me about the mission." I said.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because if you want my help, I need to know what I'm getting into."

"We're going to the last standing Hydra base. The 0-8-4 is of jotun origin. It's supposed to be on Asgard. We also have to bring in Aaron Rumlow."

"He's not going to be on base." I said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, hypothetically, if I was a Hydra agent, and there was one Hydra base left, it would seem like the obvious first place that my enemies would look for me. And my guess is that he knows we know about the base. He'll probably also know the minute we step into the base, so he'll be on the run if we go there first. In fact, he's probably waiting for that signal to get moving. If we find him first, he'll lead us to the base. He has to have some way to contact everyone there, as he's the new leader. We can trace his contact method." I said.

"Do you have a phone on you?" he asked.

"No." I lied. If he knows I have a phone he'll immediately think I'm working with Hydra and contacting them.

"Yeah you do."

"No I don't. Search me if you want. You won't find anything." I said.

"Just give it to me. Why do you need it?" I walked towards him, getting in his face.

I glared at him. "Why don't you trust me?"

"Give me one reason why I should." he said.

"Because you have no proof. No tangible evidence. Nothing. It's like you were eager to believe I'm Hydra."

"You confessed."

"I don't remember that."

"It was your handwriting."

"We live in a world where mind control is a very real possibility. You of all people would know that."

"You would remember it if it was mind control."

"Not necessarily. If someone had the power to take over my mind, they also had the power to block my memories. From me, from your mom, from anyone."

"Have you ever done that?"

"Yes. I blocked your mind from Charlie."

"Of course you did."

"I was trying to stop you from getting your mind taken over by him a third time." I said.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Are you sure you're the same person? You're being a complete- ugh." I muttered. I want to say some really obscene things to him right now.

"That's nice." he said. "I don't really care."

"Whatever. You do care." I replied. Then I walked away from him and grabbed my makeup bag and my straightener.

I plugged in my straightener and set it to the highest heat as I proceeded to do my makeup. If we're going undercover, I need to look at least slightly different from normal. If I was blonde or brunette or something it wouldn't be such a problem but my red curls are literally a red beacon revealing my identity.

I contoured my face, because as Alana taught me, contouring can completely change your look. "What are you doing?" Jason asked.

"Makeup."

"Why?"

"Because we're going undercover."

"Why are you straightening your hair?"

I slammed by brush down. "Because red curls are not all that common, and they'll be looking for that. Anymore questions?" I snapped. "Didn't think so."

"Just giving you a taste of your own medicine."

"Hmm. Jason, I'm holding a hot device that can easily burn your fingers to the point where you'll never be able to use them again."

"Your point?"

I turned around and snapped it at him, close enough to startle him, but not close enough to actually touch him. I smirked as he jumped back.

"That's my point."

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously? How long does this take you?" He asked after 20 minutes had gone by. I was going slow on purpose.

"I'm going to give you a lesson in espionage. It probably won't work for you, because you don't have the attitude to pull it off. But flirting your way out of dangerous situations is practical, distracting for the enemy, and effective." I said.

"I don't have the attitude to pull it off?" he asked, sarcastically.

"No. You give off that good boy stick to the rules kind of vibe."

"Really?" he asked, clearly not interested.

"Really." I replied, finishing straightening my hair.

"How does it look?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's fine."

I gave him an offended look. "Rude. Now tell me what you really think."

"It looks straight." he said flatly.

"You're so boring. See, this is why you can't pull it off." I said.

"Okay. It looks stunning." he said sarcastically. "Is that what you wanted?"

"No. Change your tone."

"You want my honest opinion?" he asked.

"Please."

"The curls suited you better." he said bluntly.

"And this is why you can't pull off the flirting technique."

"I don't want to pull off the flirting technique. It's manipulative."

"You wanna know what's manipulative? Telling me you'll never betray me, only to do so within the next 30 minutes." I hissed.

"Says the Hydra agent." he replied.

"For the last time. I'm. Not. Hydra!"

"How can I believe anything that comes out of your mouth?"

"How can you not? I've given you no reason to think I'm a liar."

"You've given me every reason to think that."

"Name them."

Silence. "You can't name them. You can't name any reasons because there are none." I said, pushing him back with each word.

"Now explain to me this. You know what I'm feeling right now. You've always known. Now don't you think you would've known if I was evil?!" I demanded, holding him against the wall. I'm pissed off. All the anger that I've been holding in for the past couple days is erupting. This is the breaking point. No more witty humor. I thought I could do this but it's too difficult. With everyone else it's easy. With him- it's not.

"Re- Jade. I-" he started when suddenly we both heard footsteps coming towards us, fast. I pulled away and went back to my makeup, attempting to look natural.

"The plane will be landing in approximately 30 minutes." we heard from the door.

I took a deep breath. I can't do that again. I can tell he doubts it. It's written plainly on his face. But that's not enough. I can't deal with this.

I love him. Even if he thinks I'm evil and he's being a jerk. It doesn't change anything. The only problem is knowing that maybe this changed something for him. Knowing that we can't come back from this. Whether I end up being falsely accused of terrorism or proved innocent, it doesn't matter. Our relationship- it's over.

It makes me think of Scarlet, and Steven, and Josh. I met them and I will never see them ever again. I won't give birth to them, I won't watch them grow up. They won't ever exist. There's nothing worse than knowing you will have something, then realizing it's not going to happen. Those were my children. And now I will never know them.

For so long, the only reason I even lived was for him. I don't need to do that anymore. The only way I dealt with the trauma and panic was with him. I don't know if I can do it alone. That thought scares me. The only way I managed to get any sleep was with him.

I guess that's my life from now on. I'm alone. I've never actually been alone. I've always had someone who was standing by my side. But I've lost them all. How does someone even manage to do that?

How did I manage to lose all the many people that cared about me so quickly? It's not fair. It's so not fair.

Or maybe it is fair. Maybe it's what I deserve. Clearly these things didn't happen by chance. It's my fault. All of it is my fault.

I don't think I've ever been this broken before. My mind is shattered into a million pieces. Everything and anything is triggering panic attacks and is triggering me to cry and I can't do this anymore. I'm doing everything I can to stop myself from breaking down.

"Jade?" I heard him say from behind me. Startled I turned around and had the nearest weapons available in my hand. It was a hairbrush, but a hairbrush in an eye hurts like hell. Then I realized, within half a moment, that it was Jason, and put down the hairbrush.

He looked at me, assessing the situation. "What was that?"

"Defense mechanism. What did you want." I asked tersely.

"How can I believe anything you say?" he asked. He wasn't accusing me of anything this time. He sounded desperate, and I bet under that angry facade is someone who's struggling to cope.

"Until you believe I'm not Hydra, you can't. That's it." I said.

"I want to believe it. Believe me, I do. Do you even know how hard this is?"

"I do." I replied.

"You do what?"

"Believe you. Know how hard it is." I said quietly,

"Jason. What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't show weakness!" I heard Natalie say on the other end.

"If you want to believe it, then believe it. Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm lying." I said.

"I wouldn't know if you were lying or not. If you are, you're clearly good at it. You told me you loved me many times over and I always believed it." he said.

I flinched back at that statement. I tried to pull myself together. He clearly meant to do this to me. Show weakness and then when I'm letting my guard down, hit me where it hurts most.

And damn did that hurt. What hurts more is that he didn't have to pretend to be hurt. He is hurt. I hate it. I hate myself. I hurt him.

I promised myself I would never do that and I did. "Just leave me alone." I said quietly. I silently packed my things back together and had my bag ready with me.

The plane landed and we walked into the airport.

He tried talking to me but I refuse to respond. I absolutely refuse. I can't talk to him right now. I don't even want to be around him right now.

We went through customs and a woman, married, judging my the ring, came up to me when he went to the bathroom. She had evidently seen our whole exchange, or rather, his monologue where he tried to get me to respond.

"I know it's hard sometimes. But you know, it's so much easier to not ignore them. Talk out your problems." she said.

"It's my fault though. The reason we're fighting is my fault. I don't want it to be that way, but he's better off without me anyway." I said in response.

"One thing I've noticed is that arguments are rarely ever one person's fault. They're the cause of multiple other issues on both ends leading up to this."

"How do you know?" I asked curiously.

"I'm a marriage counselor. Just out of curiousity, do either of you have major issues already in your life?"

"We both have PTSD, anxiety, and several other issues. They all stem from generally the same things." I said vaguely.

"Are you seeing a psychologist?" she asked worriedly.

I shrugged. "He has a close family friend that's a psychiatrist."

She sighed. "That's good." she said. "I have to get going. Just remember what I said."

"Thank you. I will." I said, and then she left. See, it's people like that that make me believe there's good left in the world.

Not in me though. There's no good left in me.

(LATER, JASON POV)

"Jade." I said.

She didn't even look at me. "Are you even there?" I asked.

She continued ignoring me. I can't shake the look on her face.

She looked so hurt and sad. I know what I said was wrong. Well, if she's Hydra, then it is wasn't.

But I don't think I believe that anymore. Then again, if she is hydra, she would be able to manipulate me.

If she's hydra, she has been manipulating me.

"Jade, come on." I said.

She looked at me. "No. Leave me alone." She said coldly.

"Fine." I replied.

"Fine." she said.

"Let's go." I said, and she walked ahead of me, at least ten feet. When she stopped at the end of the line for boarding and I stood next to her, I asked her.

"Why did you do that?"

"I would've stayed behind but then you would've gotten paranoid." she muttered, looking away.

"You're infuriating."

"You're a jerk."

"You're annoying."

"You piss me off."

"Jason, cut it out." I heard my mom say over the earpiece.

"I hate you." she said. I froze a little at that and she noticed. "You hate me. Don't look so surprised."

"I never said I hated you."

"You were thinking it."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"You realize you don't have your powers?"

"I didn't need them for this."

(MOSCOW)

We were walking around the city, our heads down, not revealing our faces. Then Jade pulled her head up and stared at the world ahead defiantly.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"My looks are common around here." she responded.

"Your face is known!"

"So? If I'm really Hydra then it doesn't matter if I get caught, right? Why do you care?" she asked scornfully.

I stayed silent at that.

(STEVE POV)

"Natasha?" I asked, walking into our room. I have no idea where she is.

"I'm in here!" she said. I walked in further and saw her in the closet, sitting on the floor, with a laptop.

I looked at her confused. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm reviewing the video coverage of Jade being tortured."

"Why?"

"Because I don't believe she's Hydra." she said.

"Natasha-"

"No Steve. It's not wishful thinking. It's just- it's not adding up." she said. "Now shhh and watch with me." she said.

I sat next to her on the floor. "why are we sitting on the floor?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're strange." I said, smiling.

"Hey, you joined me, didn't you?" she asked.

We played the video. It was painful to watch. No matter what she did (or didn't do), I still want to forgive her. I still want to but I know I can't.

She was unconscious at this part and there were two men in the room, talking.

"You did it?" One asked the other.

"Yes. We can activate it whenever we need to. It'll only be effective once though."

"She'll be completely under our control?"

"Yes."

"And she won't remember it at all?"

"She will not."

"So we can pit her family against her. She'll have nowhere to go. She'll give up SHIELD's secrets quickly at that point. In fact, she'll probably be broken after that. Hopefully it won't be necessary and we can break her while she's here."

"It's a brilliant plan. Ward is pretty good at this."

"You think Ward came up with this plan? No no. It was Red Skull."

I paused it. "So she's not Hydra." I said, the relief in my voice evident.

"No. Steve, she's not Hydra. We have to tell everyone." she said.

"She's not going to forgive us for believing it." I said.

"I know. I know, but at least we can try."

"I feel terrible." I muttered.

"At least you opened the door for Jason. You tried to help in some small way. I didn't even do that."

"It's not your fault." I said, shrugging.

"I feel like we've failed her." she said, looking ahead at the wall.

"We'll just have to make it up to her."

"That's the thing. After everything, can we?"

"Yes. I don't know about Juliana though."

"I know." she replied quietly.


	31. Broken ties

**The next chapter is the last one. Sniffs. Let me know if you want another story. I will continue writing the Avenger's Tower story. I also have a story about Ava, a story about Ronanogers, and a story about Julia, Jade and Jason's fourth child. Also, the Agent X story will be continued as well. Enjoy! :)**

(BACK IN MOSCOW, JASON POV)

"Jason, give me my powers back." she said.

"Are you joking?" I asked.

"Does it look like I'm joking? I could find them so much faster that way." she replied.

"There's no way I'm letting you do that." I said.

She shrugged. "Kay." she said. And then she, more quickly than I thought possible, pulled out the remote and turned them on for herself.

I grabbed it back from her and turned her powers off again. "What is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?!"

"At this point, yes." she replied.

I looked at her, shocked. "What?"

"You heard me. I don't feel the need to stick around any longer." she said, not looking at me.

And that hurt like hell. Because I can't do that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she did anything like that. I seriously have doubts about her being a part of Hydra, and if she were to kill herself, I wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt.

"Why have you ever felt the need to stick around?" I asked. "What sets now apart from the past?"

"In the past I had people who cared about me. Nobody cares anymore, so I don't see the point. It's not like I have anything to live for." she said.

I stayed silent at that. And then I pressed the button and gave her her powers back. She looked at me in surprise but I didn't acknowledge it.

Chances are, she was manipulating me just now. But I'm letting myself be manipulated.

(AT THE HYDRA COMPOUND, JADE POV)

We walked in cautiously through the vents, crawling at one point. I don't really understand this kid. One minute he breaks my heart and the next he's being semi-considerate.

It's like him hurting me is okay but me hurting myself is unacceptable.

At least I have my powers back. I felt bare without them. "That way." I whispered. He nodded and followed me.

I'm surprised he has this much trust in me where he would willingly follow me into the enemy compound. I know he has doubts.

And that's good, but even if I get proven innocent today, we can't get back together. We're too broken to be fixed. He's better off without me anyway.

I thought I heard a noise, but when I turned around, it was just him behind me.

He turned off my powers. "What was that for?" I hissed.

"Safety precaution." he replied. I kicked my foot out behind me and stepped on his hand.

"Oops. Sorry." I sneered, pissed off. He rolled his eyes.

(JASON POV)

What the hell just happened? I was behind Jade when suddenly I was tranquilizer and dragged to the side before I hit the ground. Either they took Jade too or there's an imposter in my place.

Neither are good options. I found myself tied to a chair and I couldn't break out. It's not working. Then someone walked in the room. Someone new to me. "Hello." She said. The person was a tall woman with blond hair and green eyes, and was smiling.

"Let me out." I said.

She laughed. "That's an amusing request. I would just like you to know that she was never Hydra. She resisted all of our methods. She was about ready to break before she unfortunately escaped. Just a day more and she would've snapped. So in reality, this was a move on our part to get her back."

Then I got mad. Not just at Hydra, but at myself. For believing it when I knew it couldn't be possible.

(JADE POV)

"You know, I never believed you were Hydra." Jason said, once we were in the room.

I glanced at him. "Sure." I muttered.

"You know why? Because I am." he said. My eyes widened and I glared at him.

"that's not funny."

"It wasn't meant to be. This whole time, i've been a hydra agent."

I took a step back, shaking. He laughed. "Pathetic. I tell you that and you start panicking."

What? This was the last thing I expected. I could feel myself getting more and more dizzy and I was about to fall so I braced myself against a wall.

As I was disoriented he shot me in the shoulder and I yelled out in pain and fell, and then pulled out my gun. I held it out with my shot arm and put pressure on it using the other arm.

"I will shoot you in the chest if you come any closer." I said, already weakened as it is.

I'm currently fighting off a panic attack and trying to breathe while bleeding out from my shoulder socket.

He just grinned and walked up to me, and I shot, but he just ducked and moved closer. I now find myself at a complete loss because I can't bring myself to shoot him in the head. I just can't.

And I hate myself for it. I can't do this. I can't do this. I could feel the panic settling in and my breathing picked up and the world was spinning around me. He grabbed me by the neck and held me up against the wall, choking me in the process.

I clawed at his hand, trying to move his hand away, because now I'm panicking and bleeding out and being choked and I can't survive this.

I think I'm seeing double, because then another Jason appeared and I wanted to die.

But then this guy let go of my throat and I fell hard, slumped against the brick wall. The new Jason was pointing a gun at the Jason who choked me and I was pointing my gun still, trying to keep what little control I had.

The new Jason shot the choking one and he fell. "Red. Crap, he shot your shoulder?" The victorious one said, coming closer to me.

"Stay away." I said, my voice wavering.

"Red, it's actually me."

"You're actually Hydra. That won't work. You can't trick me again." I replied, shaking. I can feel myself about to pass out from blood loss and panic. My organs and internal bleeding still haven't completely healed so there's that too.

"Please, you're bleeding out."

"No! I won't fall for it! Why can't you just kill me and get it over with?! Why do you have to torture me like this?" I shouted.

"Red, trust me. Please, you're hurt." he said almost desperately. My hand was soaked in blood and it had traveled down my arms and was pooling underneath me.

"No. let me bleed out if you actually care. I don't want to live any longer. Just leave me alone." I said, crying. I don't understand. Why is he Hydra? Why did this have to happen?

The blood loss is hindering my logic skills and I can't comprehend what he's saying anymore. It just sounds like mindless babble to me.

I felt myself go dark and I hoped it was for good.

(AT THE TOWER, STEVE POV)

"Jade's not Hydra!" I told everyone. "Where is Fury?"

"I'm right here. And I knew all along. This was a chance for her to prove it because you kids wouldn't listen to me if I told it to you." Fury replied.

"Where is she now? We have to tell Jason." Natasha said.

"Jason? Jason?" Elliot said over the comms.

"I already know Elliot. She was shot in the shoulder and was almost choked to death and her internal bleeding started again. We'll be home soon. Make sure the restraints are still intact because she'll try to run otherwise. I'll explain later." he said.

"What happened?"

"We played right into their plan." Jason replied.

"Can we see her?" I asked.

Jason looked down so we could see through his eyes. She was unconscious and he was carrying her. She was basically covered in blood and her neck was harshly bruised in the shape of a hand.

Collective gasps were heard. "I can't believe it. It's our fault." Alana muttered.

"It's Hydra's fault." Jason corrected, and we saw him get into a quinjet.

(JASON POV)

I can't believe I let this happen. She doesn't trust me anymore. She wanted to die. She genuinely, really wanted to die today.

I'm so angry at myself. I knew she couldn't be Hydra and I believed it anyway. I knew it. I should have held my ground a little while longer. Now she's in the back of the plane unconscious and it's my fault.

We got back to the tower in one piece and I carried her inside, being careful not to hurt her anymore.

I had a made a makeshift pressure bandage around her shoulder, tying it tightly. So she isn't bleeding that much anymore.

Then suddenly she woke up and looked at me. She just stared for a moment before her eyes hardened and she punched my shoulder, forcing me to drop her.

"Can you please just listen for a minute? I'm not evil." I said.

"You told me yourself." she replied, glaring. And then she ran. I ran after her and quickly caught up, as she's injured and weakened at the moment. I grabbed her arms.

"You're seriously hurt. I need you to trust me, okay?"

"I won't fall for it again. You're the one who hurt me. Until you give me proof that that was not you, I will not trust you." she said, trying to pull away but failing.

"The building blew up. Any evidence that was there is gone now." I said.

She managed to pull away from me and stepped back. "That's just an excuse." she said.

"Ask my mom. She can tell you." I said.

She nodded warily. "Fine."

"Oh my god. Come with me now." Dianna said, freaking out at the sight of her.

Jade shrugged and nodded. "Why does she think you're Hydra?" Elliot asked me.

"They had someone wearing a nanomask to look like me attack her and she couldn't tell the difference."

"What?" he asked, shocked.

"He shot her shoulder and tried choking her. I'm pretty sure she couldn't think logically after that." I muttered.

"Why aren't you following?"

"Because she doesn't trust me. If I'm there she'll try to run. Elliot- I messed up big time. How the hell am I supposed to fix this?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. But it's not entirely your fault. We're the ones who convinced you in the first place." he said.

"I shouldn't have listened." I muttered.

(LATER, AVA POV)

"She's okay. She's unconscious right now and won't be waking up for at least 3 hours. Now explain." Dianna said, walking in the room where we were all congregated.

Jason sighed. "Okay. So we were entering through the vents when somebody came up through the side and shot me with a tranq gun, and then grabbed me before I hit the floor. It was weird, not normal. I didn't black out, it's just that I went numb. After that I don't know what happened to her, but they told me that she wasn't Hydra. That she was never Hydra. When I found her, there was somebody who looked like me choking her and her entire left side was covered in blood. I shot the other guy but she was still aiming a gun at me. She didn't trust me but eventually she passed out so I brought her here." he said.

"Watch this." Natasha said, playing something on the big screen. We watched as two people were talking next to an unconscious Jade, who was bleeding and bruised and wearing very little. We heard them tell their plans.

"I'm so stupid." Jason muttered.

"You weren't the only one who believed it." I said.

"But I was the only one she never expected to believe it." he said, walking out.

"I'll go talk to him." Natalie said, walking out.

(JASON POV)

I walked into the room where she was currently. She was extremely pale. Her arms were on either side of her, and she was barely breathing. There was a large bandage covering her shoulder with blood beginning to seep through the layers. She doesn't look good.

The bruises on her neck are painfully visible. And the fact that she thought I did that.

"Jason." I heard my sister say. "She'll be okay."

"Even if she is, she still thinks I did that." I said.

"She'll figure out that it wasn't you soon enough."

"I don't think you get it. It has happened enough times. Someone puts on a nanomask and suddenly looks exactly like me and hurts her. Eventually she'll start to believe it." I muttered.

She looked at me. "You're not going to achieve anything by thinking like that." she said, then she walked out.

I walked out after her. I'm not going to be here when she wakes up.

(ALANA POV)

I looked at her sadly. I can't believe this. We believed it and it wasn't true. We had her in a cell. She wasn't eating. She was being treated like our enemy when she wasn't really all along.

And she'll probably have more nightmares after this but from what Elliot told me she doesn't trust Jason anymore. She'll be handling them basically on her own.

"Dianna?" Jade asked, confused. "What happened?"

"Do you not remember what happened?" Dianna asked in return.

"No." Jade replied. "Why does my neck hurt so bad? And my shoulder? Why am I here? Did something happen in Moscow?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Jason turned on my powers while we were walking." she said.

"So you don't remember your shoulder getting shot?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. So you finally believe I'm not Hydra or am I going back down there after this?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

I winced. "We know you're not Hydra. And off the record, I'm sorry. We were all wrong. We shouldn't have believed it."

"I would've believed it if I were you." she replied. "Now would somebody please tell me what happened?"

"Well we don't know the details, but your shoulder was shot in the socket and you were choked. You have a severe concussion so no using your powers." Dianna told her.

"Oh. Where's Jase?" She asked.

"I don't know." I muttered, going to find him.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I asked him.

He looked at me and shrugged.

"She has a concussion. She doesn't remember any of it past when you turned on her powers again." I told him.

"She'll remember it eventually."

"It's not like you actually did any of that stuff to her."

"I didn't actually do it, but it's still my fault." he replied.

"You're being stupid. She doesn't know that she's mad at you so if you don't show up she's going to mad at you for completely different reasons." I said, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room.

"No." He said, pulling his arm back. I glared at him.

"No?"

"No."

"You're so stubborn." I muttered, leaving.

"Is he still mad at me?" Jade asked when I walked back in, surprisingly still lying down.

"No. he's just an idiot." I said.

"Then why isn't he here?" She demanded.

"I don't even know." I said, lying because if I told her she would know what she forgot.

"You're lying. You can tell me if he's still mad you know." she said.

"He's not mad. I think he's guilty." Elliot said, walking in. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm fine." Jade replied, shrugging, then wincing because of her shoulder.

"That's good. Everyone else has crashed. It's like 4 AM." he said.

"Oh. You guys should go to sleep too." Jade said.

"What about you?" Dianna asked.

"I'll go to sleep." she said, shrugging.

"You're so annoying, you know that?" I muttered.

She laughed. "I know. Go. Out. Go to sleep." she said.

"Fine. I'll be back in an hour." Dianna said, although it's clear she won't. Her eyes are not even staying open. If she falls asleep, she's not waking up.

"Okay. Now shoo." Jade said.

We laughed and left the room.

(JADE POV)

I'm pretty sure Jase is still mad at me. He has every right to be. But he knows I'm not Hydra now. I thought he would at least come see me.

I'm tempted to get up and go find him, but I can't summon the energy or willpower to do so. I just feel drained.

My neck is sore for whatever reason, and my shoulder was shot, which I don't remember. I don't remember how I got here either. I brought up a hand and touched my neck, wincing. It's probably bruised.

I grabbed my phone which was next to me and opened the camera. My neck was purple and blue and splotchy in the shape of a hand. My shoulder was bandaged and there was a spot where blood had seeped through it a little.

I glanced at the bottom corner and saw the most recent picture I had taken. It was a selfie Juliana had taken on my phone.

Of course she hasn't visited either. I didn't expect her to. She hates me, and she has every right to hate me.

Same goes for my parents. It was then that I made a split second decision and pulled the tubes and wires out of me. I turned off the inhibitor and walked out.

I held on to the wall for support until I got to my room. I grabbed my gun out of the drawer and walked towards the exit.

I was about to make it out the door when I sensed someone behind me. I turned around and saw Robert behind me, looking exhausted. He shook his head and gestured with his head for me to follow him.

I'm curious as to what he wants me to see, so I followed him. He led me to the common room where everyone was fast asleep, at least, those who didn't stay awake long enough to go upstairs.

I saw Jase, asleep, murmuring in his not so peaceful sleep. And then I felt bitter, because when I was dealing with my nightmares, he didn't care. He wasn't there when I woke up.

But I also can't stand to see this. So I did the only logical thing, I walked out.

I walked upstairs back into my room and locked the door. I put the gun away and sighed.

I never could do it. I can never kill myself, no matter how much I want to. I want to die, I just don't want to do it by my own hand.

I leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor, leaning my head back against the wall.

There's no reason for me to be alive. Nobody wants me alive. I'm not living for anything. I don't enjoy my life. And I have the power to end it all, so why can't I?

A small part of me is whispering that it's because people do care about me. Because I know they do. Because deep inside I know I have plenty left to live for.

But the other part of me shuts those voices down.

(NATALIE POV)

I woke up to a scream. I bolted upright along with everyone else around me and we all looked at Jason, who was the one screaming.

"Should I get Jade?" Sarah asked.

"No no. We can wake him up." I said. I walked over to him and shook him. "Jason. Jason, wake up."

Nothing. The screams continued. I went close to his ear and called his name loudly. That woke him up.

He snapped up and was breathing heavily. He looked at all of us, who were staring, and sighed.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked. He nodded.

"Sorry for waking you guys up." he said, getting up and walking out.

This kid confuses me. I walked after him. "What's up with you?" I asked quietly.

"You guys weren't supposed to see that." he replied.

"That's not the only thing that's wrong." I said.

He looked at me. "How the hell am I supposed to do it? I could barely handle it when she was with me, and now she's not, so how am I supposed to deal with this?"

I shook my head. "You can't be so sure you've lost her just yet. She doesn't remember what happened once you got into the base. She thinks you're still mad at her." I said.

"And when she remembers? She's a telepath, Nat, she'll figure it out eventually." he said.

"But if you can convince her now that it wasn't you and that she can still trust you, it'll be fine when she remembers." I told him.

"You don't get it. You don't know what she said." he muttered.

"Then tell me."

"She told me she wouldn't fall for it again. She asked me why I torture her and why I don't just kill her and get it over with. Do you have any idea-" He cut himself off, staring intensely at the ground, trying not to cry.

I hugged him and he hugged me back. "Nat, I can't do this." he said, his voice breaking.

"Yes you can. You're strong, Jason. You'll figure it out."

(STEVE POV)

I walked through the hallway, approaching her door. That's where JARVIS said she is.

I knocked. She opened the door and looked at me, staring. She looks exactly like her mother.

"I'm sorry." I said.

She looked surprised. "What?"

"I'm sorry I believed it. I shouldn't have." I said, shaking my head.

"No, I would've believed it too." she said, shrugging.

"But that doesn't mean it was right."

"It's okay. It's fine. I don't want your apologies." she said. "Is Juliana still mad at me?"

I winced internally. "No." I lied.

She looked at me. "I'm a telepath, dad. You can't lie to me."

"She's not mad. She's just- confused."

"There's nothing to be confused about. I let her down. She can be mad at me." she said. I was about to say something in response when she continued talking. "What about mom?"

"She fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her up. You know she was the one who figured out you were innocent? She went through all the security footage, searching for something that would prove your innocence."

"Really?" she asked, and I can picture her as a five year old, when she did something wrong and thought we hated her, until we told her we didn't, until we told her that we would love her unconditionally, always. And she looked basically the same, her eyes wide and watery. Things were so much simpler back then.

"Really." I replied.

She shook her head. "Dad, when did you believe it?"

"It was a few hours before you woke up." I said, ashamed.

"And what- how did Aunt Laura and Thomas-"

I swallowed, knowing what she was asking. "There were guns pointed at Johnny. Thomas and Laura both jumped in the way and pushed him away. They died like that."

"How are he and Jack doing with that? I haven't talked to them. Or, they haven't talked to me. They probably blame me for it." she said, looking down.

"They don't blame you. Johnny blames himself. Jack blames Hydra." I said. "And they're grieving. So are Ava and Clint. And it's not your fault."

"Yeah. It is. If it wasn't for me none of this would've happened." she said.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. It's my fault."

"Jade, you can't blame yourself for everything."

"Can't I? Everything is my fault. I'm leaving. Tomorrow." she said.

"What? No you're not."

"Are you going to try and stop me?" She asked.

I won't and we both know it. "Jade, please. Just stay. Where will you go?"

"I'm not sure yet." she said, walking out.


	32. Mending the Bonds

**This is the last chapter. I know the ending was kind of lame but it's the best way I could make it work out. It's so sad but also so relieving to have finished this. It's the best feeling to know I've been writing this story for over a year now! Anyway, enjoy the final chapter! :)**

(JOHNNY POV)

I can't do this. My mom is dead. She died because of me. She sacrificed herself for me.

I hate it. And I didn't even get to tell her that I love her, whether she actually gave birth to me or not. In three days we're going to tell my grandparents. We're going to bury her at the cemetery there.

"Johnny. It's not your fault." Sarah said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I looked back at her. "You know it is."

"It's not. You can't blame yourself. Would she have wanted that?"

I shook my head. "No. she wouldn't." I said, sighing.

"Come here." she said, pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back, burying my face into her shoulder.

"I love you." I murmured.

"I love you too. It's going to be okay."

"My mom just died, it's not going to be okay." I said, not even caring about how weak I sound. I'm allowed to sound weak. My mother just died.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You're just trying to help." I muttered. "I didn't even tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"That I love her. Even if Ava is actually my mother, I don't really care. She was the one who was there for me the whole time. And I didn't tell her that."

"I think she knew that. No, I know she already knew that. You're her fourth kid. I'm sure she knew that you love her no matter what." she said.

"Yeah?" l asked quietly.

"Yeah."

(CLINT POV)

It was Tony who found me. "Stop." he said, pulling the bottle of alcohol out of my hand and moving it away. "You can't drink away the pain."

I snorted. "This coming from you." I said.

"Clint, I'm serious. I know it's hard. I know, but that's not the answer. Your kids need you."

I laughed bitterly. "Tony, I have to tell Lila and Cooper and Nathaniel that their mother died because I wasn't fast enough to save her."

"They won't blame you."

"It doesn't matter. I blame me." I said, standing up and pulling out my phone.

Tony looked at me incredulously. "It's 5 AM. You can't call them now." he said.

"Watch me." I replied. I called Cooper first, he's more likely to be here right now. He has a baby son, along with two daughters that are older. And what about them? I have to tell them their grandma is dead? Or Cooper will have to do it?

I have grandchildren. I never imagined that before I met Laura. And then we had kids. And then our kids had kids. We were going to go see the latest addition to the family, but then things got complicated. She died before ever seeing him.

"Hey dad." Cooper said, sounding tired, but otherwise in a good mood. That's about to be ruined.

"Hey Cooper. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Brent is keeping me up, because it's my shift right now, but other than that I couldn't be better. When are you and mom coming?"

I felt my heart break a little. How am I supposed to tell him that Laura isn't ever coming to visit again.

"Are you sitting down?" I asked, not wanting him to potentially drop his son.

"Now I am. What happened dad?"

"Your mom- she- well Johnny was about to be shot and so your mom pushed him out of the way and took the bullet for him." I said quietly.

"What? Mom is- is she hurt? Can I come see her?" He said, and I know he knew what I meant. He's in denial, and that hurts so bad.

"Cooper. She's dead." I said, and saying the words hurt.

"Oh- oh my god." he said, sounding shocked.

"I'm sorry." I said, sad.

"How are Lila and Nathaniel and Johnny and Jack taking it?"

"Johnny blames himself. Jack is not doing so great either. I haven't told Nathaniel or Lila yet. You were the first one I called."

"Dad, how do I tell the girls? They were so excited that you guys were coming." he asked, sounding so sad and broken it hurts.

"I- I have no idea. I'm struggling trying to tell you all this." I said, swallowing.

He was silent for a little while. "When is the funeral? And where?"

"Where your grandparents live. I have to tell them too."

"Okay. The kids are up for school now. I have to go." he said reluctantly.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"I love you dad."

"I love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye." I said, hanging up.

"Don't beat yourself up so much. There was nothing you could've done. She knew what would happen the minute she stepped in front of the gun." Natasha said from behind me.

She looked exhausted. Her hair was messed up and she was still in the same clothes from yesterday.

"I know, it should have been me."

"Your kids need you right now. You can be depressed and sulky later, but right now you have five kids who all need your support."

I sighed. "I know."

"Good. Don't blame yourself." she said, grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Have you talked to Jade yet?" I asked.

"Yeah. She said she's leaving tomorrow." she replied, looking down.

"What?"

"She said that nobody wants her here so she should just leave. And that everyone is better off without her. Juliana hasn't spoken to her and either has Jason, so she's just assuming the worst even though they've both already forgiven her and are just too guilty to say it and now she's going to leave." she said, staring ahead, holding the handle of the mug dangerously tightly.

"Did you try to talk her out of it?"

"No Clint, I didn't." she snapped sarcastically. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I replied. "Look at us. This is almost worse than Budapest." I said, laughing a little.

She smiled. "Almost, but not quite." she said, shaking her head. Then she frowned. "Clint, if she leaves, she's probably not coming back."

"No, she's probably not." I said.

She gave me a look. "Not helping?" I asked.

"Not helping." She confirmed.

"I'm sorry. I'm not good at empathy."

"It's fine."

(JACK POV)

I feel hollow. First I find out my brother apparently isn't my brother and then my mom dies in front of me.

"We're so fricking messed up." Juliana muttered next to me.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"I wish everything would go back to the way it was."

"Me too. It's not fair. What did we do? What did anyone even do to deserve all the crappy things that happen to them?"

"I don't know." she said. "What do I do? I don't want to go see her because she probably hates me, but I probably should."

"You should. Go see her."

"Why?"

"Because she could die at any minute and you would regret it if you didn't." I snapped.

She looked at me. "I'm sorry." she said.

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

"You think I should go see her?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay." she agreed, getting up and leaving.

I sighed and leaned back on the sofa. Then Johnny walked in.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey."

He sat next to me and stared straight ahead, tense. "Is something else wrong besides the obvious?" I asked.

"No. nothing besides the obvious."

"I can't believe she's actually-"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." he replied.

(JULIANA POV)

"Jade?" I asked, walking in her room.

"Ana?" she replied, looking surprised.

"Um. Hi." I said awkwardly. I'm still not sure if she's forgiven me yet.

"Are you still mad at me too?" she asked.

"What?" I asked, startled. "No. I thought you were mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I believed it. And I said all those terrible things to you." I said quietly.

She hugged me tightly. "I don't care, okay? I would've done all that too. I'm not mad."

I hugged her back. "Are you sure you're not mad?"

"I'm positive." she said. I sighed in relief and pulled away.

"Are you okay?"

She shrugged. "My shoulder and neck hurts but other than that I'm fine." she said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I didn't have any major injuries."

"That's good." she said, and she looked genuinely relieved. I can't stop looking at her neck. It's completely purple and blue and splotchy.

"I'm so sorry." I said. "I was the first person to believe it when I should've been the last to and i wish I could take it all back and-"

"Seriously, it's okay. It's fine. I don't care. Yeah, it hurt at the time, but you're okay. I'm okay. It doesn't matter." she said.

"But it does matter. You can't pretend nothing happened and that we didn't all betray you."

"You've all been through enough because of me as it is. Having to spend a week in a cell with everyone hating me isn't that bad." she said.

"Jade, stop it. You know we were wrong so can you stop blaming yourself?"

"No. I can't. People died because of me. Aunt Laura is dead. Your boyfriend's mother is dead because of me, and you want me to stop blaming myself for that?"

"Yes. What could you have done anyway? You were in a cell."

"I could've told you it was going to happen."

"You- you knew?"

"Exactly. This is why it's my fault. I knew it was going to happen. I had a vision. But I also had a vision of you all locking me in a cell. And then I was so selfish as to not tell you."

"Don't give yourself so much credit. It would've happened with or without you."

"No, it wouldn't have."

"I'm not going to talk to you if you don't stop blaming yourself."

"I'm leaving. Tomorrow." she said suddenly, out of nowhere.

"What?!"

She shrugged. "I don't have a reason to stick around. I only cause problems anyway."

"What about mom and dad? What about me? What about your boyfriend who you haven't talked to since you woke up, hm?"

"He hasn't talked to me either."

"He thinks you're mad at him, just like I did."

"That didn't stop you from coming to me." She pointed out.

"You couldn't tell the difference between him and a hydra agent wearing a nanomask to look like him!" I replied, exasperated. Then i was horrified as a realized what I had just revealed.

She looked at me calculatingly. "The Hydra agent did this?" she asked, pointing to her shoulder "And this?" She pointed to her neck.

I nodded silently and she walked out.

(JASON POV)

I was walking around like a zombie because I haven't slept for more than three hours in the past week. I haven't really eaten either.

I've been thinking about things. More specifically, mine and Red's relationship. We started dating when we were 12. Once we got older, there was no opportunity for us to have fights or to figure things out like normal couples do. Every other couple living in this building has had fights, except for us.

And at the time I thought that was a good thing, but in reality we never wanted to fight so we just never addressed the issues when they came up. We never wanted to fight because we both had so many other things going on that relationship drama was the last thing we needed.

And that led to trust issues. In fact, the lack of trust was so great that I would believe she's Hydra and she would believe the same of me.

Everyone thinks we had such a trusting relationship, but where was that trust when it came down to me choosing to side with her or stop fighting.

"I don't blame you, you know." she said, I froze and turned around to look at her.

"And I don't blame you either."

"Then I think the problem is that we're blaming ourselves." she said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, okay? I didn't mean any of it."

"I know. And I'm sorry too. I don't hate you."

"Do you know, what happened? How you got hurt?"

"Yeah. It wasn't you. I know that. I just couldn't- it was too much to process at the time." she said, looking guilty. "But I just wanted you to know. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Why?" I asked. Even if I try Rocco Vince her to stay, I doubt she'll listen.

"Because there's no reason for me to stay. I cause everyone problems and I can barely even take care of myself. It's better for everyone if I'm not here."

"Not for me." I said. Even if I doubt she'll listen, it doesn't hurt to try.

She looked at me. "Jase, we have problems. Okay? Our messed up lives make it impossible for us to actually do this."

"I know that. We have trust issues, believe me, I know. I believed you were Hydra. And you thought the same of me. It's something we never had the time to address."

"Yeah. It's just better off for both of us if I leave."

"No it's not. You know it's not. It won't just be bad for me, it'll be bad for you too, so just think about yourself for once."

"I don't think you get it. We can't go back to the way we used to be just like that."

"I'm not saying we can. But before anything else, I'm your friend. So I'm telling you, as a friend, that by leaving, you're not doing anyone any favors."

"That's the problem. Do you really think we can settle for being just friends? After everything, I don't think that's a possibility. But things are different now. We can't just jump in again."

"Then we take it slow. Do what everyone else did. Be normal."

"Normal." she scoffed. Then she looked at me. "Fine. We'll take it slowly. But if I screw up even once, I'm leaving."

"What's even left to go wrong?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you seriously asking that question?"

"I'm serious. What else could go wrong?"

She shrugged. "Not much, I guess. There's only so much we haven't already been through. Jase, what did I say to you?"

"What?" I asked.

"What did I say to you? In Moscow? I don't remember any of it. Juliana accidentally told me." she said.

I swallowed. "I don't think you want to know."

"Okay then. We need to talk though."

"Yeah, we do." I muttered, sitting down at the table. She sat across from me.

"I hate to have to do this, but we need to actually talk to each other. We have to get out anything we need to say to each other but haven't been able to because we didn't want to hurt each other at all." she said.

I nodded in agreement. "You're right. Clearly there were problems that we need to figure out. We'll just have to talk it out." It was silent for a few moments, both of us waiting for the other to say something.

I took a deep breath. "Well, I mean, it's hard for me sometimes, because you're a telepath, and my mind has been taken over multiple times. Just knowing that you can do that, and that you have done it, I mean, it's difficult." I started.

She nodded. "For two years after I got kidnapped, I had flashbacks pretty much every time I looked at you because of the person wearing a nanomask to look like you." she said. That's painful. For me and her. I had some idea that that was the case, but I didn't think it was for that long.

I smiled tensely. "This is harder than I thought it would be."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah. It is. I guess we never wanted to admit any of this."

"No. It's easier to pretend none of it is affecting us instead of actually saying it."

She nodded. "Well, um, the first time we- you know- it was kind of scary for me because the guy who looked like you, he was going to- he was going to rape me right before I escaped. I know, of course, that wasn't you. It just doesn't go away. I could hear his thoughts and it was nasty and disgusting and terrifying."

I looked at her shocked. "He was going to do what?!" I asked, angry.

She clinched her jaw and looked away. "Yeah."

"That's terrible." I muttered. "Once you told us all about the bombs, it kind of made me doubt how much I actually knew about you. I mean, if you hid something that big for so many years, then what else could you have potentially been hiding? And so when the whole thing came about with you being Hydra, I just didn't know what to believe."

"We really should have talked this out years ago." she said, looking down.

"Yeah, we should've. But we're talking about it now, right?"

"Yeah. And for the record, I do keep my promises. I haven't controlled anyone's mind aside from that one time." she said.

I nodded. "And you know, I would never hurt you."

"Of course. You know, you're just an all around good person. I mean, my only issues with this relationship were caused by other people who looked like you." she said.

"Please. I'm not a good person. Believe it or not."

"But you're actually nice and caring and stuff. I'm not really a friendly person."

I shrugged. "No, you're not. Not outwardly anyway."

She gave me an amused look. "At least you're being honest."

"That's what you wanted, right?"

"Basically. Although what I said still stands. You can't pull off the flirting technique."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't want to pull it off!" I said, smiling.

"I'd like to watch you flirt." she said, smirking.

"With whom?"

She shrugged. "Me, preferably. I mean, I don't think I would react well if you tried flirting with someone else." she said.

"Very true."

"I miss this." she said.

"Yeah, me too." I muttered.

"You mutter too much."

"Do I really?" I asked, amused.

"Yes, you do. Be happy."

"Now you sound like your sister."

"Please, I do not." She protested.

"You so do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do t-" I was interrupted by Elliot.

"Well you two are back to normal. Already arguing over stupid things." he said, grinning. "What was it this time?"

"He said I'm acting like Juliana by saying he should be happy."

"Well, that is kind of her thing. She's always happy."

"But I can be happy too. Jeez. Do you think she got all the happy genes?" she asked.

"Happiness is not hereditary." Dianna told her walking in.

"Whatever. I can be happy too." Red grumbled.

"Don't mutter so much. Be happy." I said.

She glared at me and hit my arm. "You're so mean."

I grinned. "You love me anyway." Whoops. That kinda slipped out. This felt so normal, so ordinary, until I remember it's not.

"Yeah. Despite all the stupid things you do." she agreed, brushing it off.

"Alright. I know you guys haven't made out in like two weeks, and that's probably some kind of record, so please, by all means, we'll leave." Elliot said.

We blushed. "Shut up." I muttered.

"AHA! You muttered again!" Red said dramatically, pointing at me accusatorily.

I put my hands up in surrender, laughing.

"Oh hey! The lovebirds are back together! Took you long enough. Idiot." Alana said, punching my arm.

"Ow." I told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Awwww look at that baby cuz! You got your girlfriend back!" Sarah said, reaching up and ruffling my hair.

I looked at her. "You're two months older than me."

"Still older though."

"It's shocking. You wouldn't be able to tell by your maturity level." I said.

"Hey!" She protested.

"What'd I miss?" Johnny asked. He looks tired. Completely exhausted, but that's to be expected. I feel so sorry for him. One thing I'm grateful for is that nobody important to me has died. I can't even imagine what that feels like. Well, I have some idea.

"Nothing much. Jase muttered too much and needs to be happier. Apparently I'm not allowed to be happy without being like my sister, Alana called Jase an idiot, Sarah was talking advantage of her old age, and Jase insulted her maturity." Red summed up.

"Forget I asked." Johnny muttered.

"What is it with you boys and muttering?" Jade asked, smiling.

"I have no idea." Naomi said, walking in. Tanner and Robert do it an obscene amount.

"Hey!" Robert protested, walking in right after her.

I glanced at Red who was staring silently at the wall. "What?" I asked her quietly as everyone else continued talking.

"Nothing." she said, shaking her head and walking out.

I sighed and walked out after her.

"Seriously. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, I'm fine."

"Clearly."

"I'm being serious. I'm absolutely peachy." she said dryly.

"Oh come on. Could you just make it easy for once?"

"Fine. I feel uncomfortable. How can everyone go from hating me to not in such short time?"

"Do you not remember still? Do you just know what happened because Juliana told you or are they actually your memories?" I asked, because if she has those memories she would know why.

"No I don't remember. What does that have to do with this?"

"Your entire left side was covered in blood and both of your hands were soaked in it. You were covered in bruises because the internal bleeding started again too. At first they weren't even sure if you would actually make it."

"How did that much blood even get there?"

"You wouldn't let me help you. You didn't trust me. I had to wait until you were unconscious to even touch you or you would've shot me." I said.

"Oh." she replied quietly.

"Look. Whatever happened happened and we said what we said. We can't change it. There's no point in regretting it."

She nodded. Then she surprised me. She came over and hugged me tightly. "Red-"

"Shut up. We haven't hugged in a week. Hold me." she ordered.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her.

She rested her head on my chest. "I love you." She said.

"I love you too." I replied, quietly. I think this is the most meaning those three words have ever had for us.

We're going to take things slow, and hopefully it'll be better this time.

We still love each other, and that's one thing that's never going to change.


End file.
